Manic Fairy Dream Prince
by Crimson Siyrean
Summary: In which Miyuki goes to sleep human and wakes to find his baby wings coming in, discovering a whole other world, filled with magical creatures, casters, and predators, living right under everyones noses.
1. Chapter 1

The pain he felt was greater than anything he'd experienced before. Miyuki fell on the floor, rolling from his bed, in an attempt to reach his phone. _No,_ he screamed to himself, _he could do this_. He couldn't even stand, the pain shooting through his back was so great. Tears pricked from his eyes as he clenched his hands into fists, trying to remain calm, trying to keep his mind from being over whelmed and think- _think_ of what he could do. His body felt as though it were on fire, but even that couldn't compare to the stabbing pain, ripping through his back, like all his muscles were being shredded inch by inch.

 _I won't let this_ \- With a cry he pushed himself onto his hands and knees. His phone lay on the desk just a few feet away. If only he could reach it, call for help, or _something_! What ever was happening to him, what ever he'd done to himself, he needed a doctor, something was very seriously wrong, and he couldn't begin to think of what. He'd gone to bed the night before feeling a bit feverish, his body was a little achy and he assumed he was coming down with something. That morning, he was sure he was indeed ill, and left a message with Kuramochi to tell the coach he'd be off today. As he was still supposed to be taking it easy from his abdominal injury, so no further questions were asked and he'd gone back to sleep, hoping it would run its course in a day, and he'd be fine for class on Monday.

His blurry eyes glanced to the clock; twelve fifty two it read. He'd managed to sleep six hours since then. Practice would have already broke for lunch and he wondered if anyone had stopped by to ask if he'd like anything brought to him. If they had, he'd have already missed them, they were likely all doing their individual practice now. Surely someone would answer their phone, if only he could reach it.

Pain lanced through him again, and Miyuki collapsed back to the floor. A whine of panic escaped from his mouth as his breaths became shorter and his eyes glassed over. This was too much, the pain was too much. Why was this happening to him, _what_ was happening to him? It wasn't that far. He just had to reach! Why couldn't he do it? Why wasn't his body letting him? He could see his phone. It was so close. So, so close! and yet... Why? Just a little further.

He saw the phone, saw it just out of his reach, and new he couldn't do it, new what he needed to do, no matter how much it hurt his pride. Every inch of him hurt.

"Help," he yelled to the empty room. His voice was weak and strained. Miyuki doubted anyone not listening to his wall could have heard.

He banged his fist against the floor. Maybe the thumping would attract someone. He prayed, he hoped- But he couldn't bang hard. Too much movement and his shoulder would move, and when his shoulder moved, the pain once again ripped through him. His eyes met the clock again. Less than two minutes had passed. His breathing once again quickened. Tears began to flow freely from his eyes. The pain was burning, scorching every inch of him.

"Help!" he again cried.

 _Just let it end, make it stop._ Let it end, let it end, let it end. Whatever was happening to him, he would never recover. How could he? This was the end for him. Please, just _someone_ help.

He needed his phone. If he could just get his phone...

Miyuki once again made an effort to calm his breath. Steeling up all his will power, he forced his body to crawl forward. Oh god, the pain was unbearable, and his teeth ground together with his jaw clenching for dear life. But he had to, he couldn't stop. On the count of three, he pushed himself up- and screamed, falling back to his side.

He was dying. His body was eating its self from the inside. He was going to die alone in his room here, and no one would know for how long he tried, for how hard he struggled.

The phone was right there...

He was crying now. He tried his hardest not to, the shaking of his muffled sobs only made the pain worse, but he couldn't help it. The truth was, he was scared. Scared and alone.

 _Mom_ , his panicked mind called out. _Dad-_ he was going to die- _someone, please._

 _Anyone!_

His stomach lurched and he vomited the contents from the side of his mouth. He couldn't even move his head away and just laid there, silently begging for release from this nightmare.

The floor began to vibrate with the quick steps of someone out side, on his floor. Miyuki's terrified eyes widened.

"Help!" His throat burned and his voice was weak, but he had to let them know. The steps stopped out side his door. "Help, please!"

Who ever it was...

Three loud bangs sounded like heaven to his ears. "Miyuki-senpai?"

It was Sawamura. Miyuki felt the tingles of relief ripple over him. He knew the idiot wouldn't just leave him there. It was Sawamura. Sawamura wouldn't leave. He would crash and bang and demand an answer. And he would cause such a noise that others would come as well. It was Sawamura, he would be alright.

"Miyuki Kazuya, open this door!" More banging, and the rattling of a door nob, followed by several kicks. "Miyuki!"

"I can't," Miyuki ground out, though he doubted the boy could hear him. He had to shout again, Sawamura needed to know he had to break the door in, or run and get the coach, but it was Sawamura, so he doubted that action would cross his mind. He opened his mouth to call out again, but another spasm took his back and instead a strangled scream left his mouth.

The banging intensified, and then a moment of silence, and a click.

Cool air and sunlight flooded the room but he couldn't move to look up. _Had Sawamura picked the lock?_ The door slammed shut just as quickly. But the air... _he needed the air_.

"Miyuki? _Oh shit!_ " The boy was suddenly kneeling beside him. "Miyuki Kazuya, can you hear me? Can you speak?" he practically yelled. His eyes were wide, sweeping over him again and again, confused and panicked, and not knowing what to do.

"Noisy," Miyuki choked out. The part of his brain that obviously wasn't paying attention to the debilitating pain he was in, and instead just felt relief at being found, brought about a half smirk to his lips. He blinked, trying to focus on the boy before him when another wave of pain made him groan and curl in on himself.

Sawamura leapt to his feet. "Shit Miyuki, your magic's going wild."

Miyuki tried to regain focus. He watched him pull a pendant from his neck, kiss it, then awkwardly tie it around his own. Miyuki moaned, unsure what was going on. "- _wamura.._."

"Don't worry, I brought my stuff," Sawamura said before moving quickly back to the door. He heard the rustling from a bag.

"Sawamura," he groaned out. "I need help." He gasped for breath. "Call a doctor. Anything- _hurry_."

"Your magic's going nuts! It's a witch, not a doctor you need. I gotta ward off your room first. I'm-"

"What the hell? Call the coach!" Miyuki coughed. Everything burned. What the hell was Sawamura saying? Was Miyuki even hearing right? Not even Sawamura could be that dense. Miyuki heard him muttering and as he moved into view, it looked like he was doing something to the walls, putting something against the floor every few feet. "Oi!" Another wave a pain and suddenly he was dry heaving.

Sawamura turned with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. He stopped what he was doing and ran back to the door, grabbing his bag, and sat next to him again.

Tears ran from Miyuki's eyes. "It hurts," he hissed, clutching in on himself. He needed help. Why wasn't Sawamura helping him?!

"Where does it hurt, Miyuki?" Sawamura's voice was uncharacteristically quiet. He was pulling various items from the large duffle bag he'd brought with him, including a large tome of a book. What the hell...?

"My back. Please, I need help. Call the coach, get somebody..." _Please, just move_. Why wasn't he moving? Why wasn't he getting anyone? Instead he was flipping through that damn book!

"I'm a fairy too, okay! If there were a witch here, they'd have come already. But I can help. I brought a lot of stuff with me. Where do you keep your dust?"

Sawamura was speaking but his words were nonsense. "What the hell are you talking about?!" he was just able to grind out.

"Your fairy dust! Where do you keep it?"

What the hell, why was it Sawamura looking at _him_ like he had two heads. Had he lost his mind? Was he seriously that delusional?

Something must of shown on his face because Sawamura suddenly sat up.

"Miyuki Kazuya, I am from the Haven. I am a Seelie fairy. I promise I will only help you. Please, trust me."

"What the fuck..." Something must have broken in Miyuki's brain. He was having a fever dream or something. He had to get to his phone. Miyuki tried to push himself up, reaching to his desk. He couldn't help but yell as he did so.

"Miyuki!" Sawamura lunged to try to catch him but it was over too fast and he was back on the floor. "What's wrong? Why won't you tell me! What ever it is, I promise not to tell!"

He was shouting again. God, why did he aways have to be so loud. Miyuki giggled a little, his head feeling dizzy. This was it then. He was going to die, curled on the floor, next to this idiot.

Sawamura was once again shifting through his bag. "You said it was your back right?"

"Yeah." He giggled again. How couldn't he? Sawamura grabbed one of the pillows from the bed, dropping it on the opposite side of his head from where he'd been sick. He then none too gently grabbed Miyuki's limp body, causing him to cry out as the pain became overwhelming, and positioned him on his stomach, with his head on the pillow.

"Can't be helped," Sawamura apologized. "I hope you're not attached to this shirt."

Miyuki was barely registering what was going on. Cool air hit his naked back and he was shocked to realize Sawamura had cut the shirt from him.

"I liked that shirt," he mumbled. Miyuki breathed heavily, wondering if this really was the end; if maybe what he was seeing was completely warped from reality and someone else was actually here; if he'd been kidnapped and tortured, or someone injected him with some sort of experimental drug, or, or _something..._ "If you're going to kill me. At least do it fast."

Sawamura glared at him. He'd pulled out a bowl and grabbed a bottled water from Miyuki's desk. He began mixing powders and liquids he'd drawn from his bag, looking like a kid who'd found his mothers baking stores for the first time.

"For the last time," he ground out, not looking up from his task. "I'm a fairy too. I have no reason to hurt you." He twisted the lid off with his teeth and poured some of water into the bowl. "And believe it or not, but I _do_ know my magic." He reached into his bag and pulled out a bunch of necklaces. Sawamura waved them in front of Miyuki's face. The clacking of the pendants irritated his already sensitive ears. It probably really was Sawamura in front of him; Sawamura couldn't do anything quietly. "See, I even brought a bunch of pre-made amulets. I could stop the pain, but they-need-your-dust. That's how they work!"

Sawamura huffed, turning back to his task.

"Well, maybe," Miyuki began, deciding to play along. What did he have to lose, and Sawamura wasn't going to be talking sense anytime soon. "I'm-not-a-fairy."

That gave the boy pause, surprising Miyuki. That was all it took?

"Then, what are you?" he asked seriously, as though that were not plainly obvious.

Miyuki rolled his eyes as best he could. "I'm human," and then after a strained breath, "so are you."

Sawamura's mouth dropped, closed ,and then opened again. "Wha- No. You're serious?" Miyuki just gave him a blank stare. "You don't know the Haven?" Miyuki remained silent. "The Haven, have you heard of it?" Still no response but something must have clicked in Sawamura's head. He gasped, jumping to his feet, and pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Oh! Oh shit, I know what you are!"

Anger began to bubble under Miyuki's surface. The pain had eased a bit since Sawamura arrived, yet he still wasn't helping him. He wasn't making sense at all but Miyuki had to humour him because he had no other choice at all. If he lived through this, he'd be seriously tempted to punch him.

With renewed vigour, Sawamura dropped to his knees, adding a few more things to his mixture and then spooning a portion, lifting it towards Miyuki's mouth. "Here, this will help with the pain."

Miyuki jerked back. "Like hell I'm drinking that."

"Just do it! I'm trying to help you, okay?" Sawamura glared. "I know what's going on now. This will help, I swear. I'm going to explain everything to you, but it's going to get a lot worse soon. You could seriously hurt yourself."

At some point Sawamura had placed a hand on his bare arm. There was a seriousness to his eyes that Miyuki rarely saw out side the diamond. As their gaze met, Miyuki found himself drawn in. The colour just seemed off, as though there were layers peaking through. And his arm felt oddly warm, calming heat seemed to trail out from the touch, easing some of the tension from the burning pain.

 _Whatever_ , he thought to himself. It's not like it could be any worse than how he was now. Nodding, Miyuki lifted his head and let Sawamura feed three spoonfuls of the thick, murky liquid into his mouth. It tasted sweet but left an aftertaste of something charred. A tingly sensation spread from the trail it left down his throat. His nerves began to dull, and a clouded feeling began to spread over his skin. Finally it felt like he could breath calmly, that his heart would stop racing.

Sawamura smiled at him. "Better?" Miyuki frowned. How the hell had he done that? He began to push himself up from the floor but Sawamura stopped him. "Whoa, all that did was help with the pain, you still can't move."

"What did you do? You said you'd explain. What the hell is happening, and what's with all this stuff?"

"Let me just clean up a bit first." Sawamura had a large grin on his face. He grabbed some paper towel Miyuki had stashed under his desk, and wiped up the area he'd been sick. "Do you want your glasses?"

"Please," he nodded. Sawamura handed them to him, and he repositioned himself to better see what was going on, though Sawamura made sure he continued to lay on his front. He couldn't believe the relief his body was feeling all of a sudden after such agonizing pain. "Seriously, what did you give me?"

"Magic," the boy stated proudly. He was seriously way too pleased with himself.

"Sawamura-"

"I'm actually a fairy."

Miyuki stared and Sawamura broke out into a loud laugh.

"I know you don't believe me. I can prove it." He yanked his shirt off and turned around. "Okay, now don't freak out too much, but I really doubt you'd believe me any other way."

Miyuki was about to tell him just how big an idiot he was, when two giant wings suddenly sprung and unfurled from his back. All breath left his lungs. He tried to move away, but moving his back shot pain through him like an electric shock, and he fell to his stomach once more.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. How could he? Sawamura was standing there with two bright gold and yellow butterfly like wings protruding from his shoulder blades down. And they were so big, they took up most of the space in the room, reaching from floor to ceiling.

"Here, you can touch them," Sawamura said from over his shoulder. He awkwardly moved so the bottom tip was right in front of his face. Miyuki cautiously reached out; his mind gone blank and not knowing what else to do but follow his instructions, and lightly grazed his fingers over the shimmering surface. His fingers came away with a light golden dusting. "That's what I was talking about, with the dust and all." Miyuki swallowed, staring from his fingers to the wings, to Sawamura glowing eyes. Sawamura's face flushed. "Erm, is it okay if I put them away now? These rooms really aren't big enough."

Miyuki continued to stare at him as though he'd grown and second head, or sprouted a pair of wings, as it were. _What the fuck?_ Miyuki nodded his head, and the wings just as suddenly disappeared. What the hell? What the fuck...

"Did I really just see that?" It came out as a whisper.

"I can show you again-"

"No!" Miyuki stopped him, finally getting his wits about him as he came out of his daze. He was going insane, or he'd been drugged, yet his head felt clear? "You need to start talking, _fast_ , because I'm about to have a freak out."

Sawamura put his shirt back on and knelt back by his apothecary set up. "I'm a fairy, and so are you." Miyuki opened his mouth to speak but the boy continued on. "Well a halfling, actually. You're only half fairy, one of your parents must be one and never told you, I guess, which is really weird. I mean, it's not like they couldn't know you're not human. Halflings are, well... Anyways, you just come into your magic later than the rest of us. I got my baby wings when I was eight. It hurt like hell, so don't freak out about that, it's normal."

 _Normal?_ But Miyuki still couldn't get a word in as Sawamura continued to ramble nonsense to him.

"My mom says it's way worse than childbirth even. But we've got magic to help us along. Which is what I gave you. I've got another spell to do on your back, because when they actually come through, it'll get real bad. But I know how to help with baby wings, so it'll be fine." Sawamura laughed. "I'm actually really good at this. You're lucky I'm here, Miyuki-senpai. You don't need to worry about a thing. The great Sawamura will get you through this, and then you can repay me by catching for me for a week!"

"I've lost my mind."

Sawamura placed a hand on his shoulder. Soothing warmth once again blossomed from his touch. "I know it's a lot but just think of it this way. One day-" Sawamura brought his face in close; his eyes glittered- "You're going to be able to fly."

The boy was obviously brimming with excitement as he let this small piece of information sink in.

 _Fly?_

A sudden bang on the door caused them both to jump. Sawamura sprung to his feet and looked nervously from Miyuki to the entrance. Miyuki opened his mouth to call for help. Now was his chance, even if what Sawamura had given him helped, it was probably also some sort of hallucinogen.

"Oi, it's me! Now let me in!"

 _Kuramochi._ Oh thank god. Sawamura still looked unsure of what to do, but Miyuki wasn't going to let this opportunity pass. "Help!" he called out. "I need help!"

"No!" Sawamura screached, knocked out of his hesitation, and moved to block the door. "No, you can't come in."

"Let me the fuck in, Sawamura, before I break down this door!" Kuramochi growled back.

"Kuramochi!"

Sawamura shot him a dirty look, struggling for words. "You can't, I'm- I'm naked. Come back later."

Miyuki internally face palmed.

"Why are you naked?"

"He's lying! Come in."

"No!"

"I'm opening this door!"

"Come back later!"

"Did you just-"

Then there was silence. Sawamura had done something to the handle; he saw his fingers trace around it. They both stayed where they were, waiting as the seconds ticked by. What had happened to Kuramochi?

A small note slipped under the door. Sawamura frowned, picking it up.

"What does it say?"

Sawamura looked at him, then back to the note, his eyes going wide in surprise before reading aloud, "I'm from the Haven. Your magic's spiking bad."

"You mentioned that before, the Haven," Miyuki noted.

"Yeah, it's the blanket term for supernatural beings living with humans."

Miyuki readjusted his arms to better prop up his head. This dream was getting ever more complicated. "I'm still not believing any of this."

Sawamura scoffed. "You just saw my wings! What else do you need?"

 _For me to wake up._

Another banging on the door. "Are you going to let me in or what?"

Sawamura grumbled, opening the door only partway. He stood, blocking the entrance with one hand on the door, the other on the frame in a painful attempt at looking threatening.

He _did_ realize that was Kuramochi, right?

"What are you?"

"Well hello to you too," Kuramochi answered before giving the boy a rough shove and moving in to the room, ignoring Sawamura's squawk of protest. His eyes swept over the dorm room scene, lingering on Sawamura's bag of supplies and Miyuki's ruined shirt. "Oi, I thought Sawamura was the naked one."

Miyuki tried to remain calm. Finally someone was here that could help him. Someone not crazy. "Can you take me to the hospital? I think Sawamura gave me drugs."

"The hell, Miyuki, I just showed you my wings!"

Kuramochi crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. "Could someone please explain what's going on? The magic was _really_ bad, but then it calmed down, I'm guessing when you showed up?" He nodded to Sawamura. "But then it started spiking again. Something like that is not going to be ignored for long. Someone else is going to come looking. And if the magic's coming from you-" He gestured to Miyuki. "I really don't think a hospital is what you need right now."

"I warded the room, and put an amulet on him," Sawamura's hand went up to his neck and then froze. "Oh," he gave a sheepish laugh. "Heh, I gave him my amulet."

Kuramochi closed his eyes and took a deep breath in visible exasperation. "And then used your magic? Of course you did. You're a caster type?"

Sawamura was about to speak when it struck him. "Hey, you never told me what you were! How do I know you can be in here?"

Kuramochi's head snapped up and the glare he gave the other boy could melt ice. "The hell? You think I want to eat you?" He stepped towards him. "Gross. Not to mention; fuck you." He gave him a hard shove. Sawamura stumbled, his face momentarily alarmed. "What do you take me for? I'm a wolf, if you must know. A predator. That's what you wanted to know, isn't it? We don't eat bugs." At least he had the grace to look abashed. Kuramochi shook his head, backing off. "You casters thinking all predators just want to take a bite out of you. Do you have any idea the kind of indigestion that would give me?"

"Sorry, sorry..." Sawamura placated sheepishly. "But still... you never know?"

Kuramochi lunged.

Sawamura screeched.

Miyuki saw all hope of leaving this situation with his sanity intact, drift out the window.

Finally they righted themselves after a brief wrestling match which found Sawamura pinned in what had to be an unnatural and very uncomfortable position. "I mean, I know you would never do that, Kuramochi-senpai. Please except my apology for thinking you might want to, erm, eat me."

Kuramochi snorted. "Better, now what's wrong with him?"

 _Finally._

"Don't you want to know what I am?"

 _Or not._

"Some kind of bug, obviously. And him?"

 _Not anything._

"I'll have you know that I'm a fairy." He sounded much too proud stating that fact. "A fairy of the Seelie Summer Court. We-"

"Right, so a bug. Miyuki, what are you? What's going on here?"

They were finally paying attention to him, but what does one say to that? How is Kuramochi just acting so easy? "You can't be serious."

"He's a fairy halfling," Sawamura answered for him. There was a pout to his lip that made him look like someone had just eaten his last fry. "He just found out."

Kuramochi's mouth dropped. "A _halfbreed_?"

"Yeah, and he doesn't know anything. I even showed him my wings, and he still doesn't believe me. His baby wings are coming in. They come in later for halflings, so he's just coming into his power, which is why it's been spiking. Erm, the other spike was me showing my wings without my amulet. Eh-heh."

"Idiot," he muttered before kneeling down to get a better look at him. "How you doing? You know this is real, right."

Miyuki did his best to give him a sour look. While they were having their tussle, he lay unable to move and in serious need of medical attention. Or magic attention? What the hell, at this point he just wanted the pain gone and to forget this entire experience. "Pretty much in complete denial. Oh, and my back feels like it's being ripped open from the inside while I've been set on fire, but please continue your conversation."

Sawamura stiffened. "Right, right, the spell."

"You've got something that can help him?" Kuramochi moved out of the way so he could get back to his supplies.

"Of course-"

"Well, get on with it!" Kuramochi cut him off, gesturing to the space he'd made before settling himself on the bed, out of the way.

"Yes, right, on it." Sawamura pulled out a clean bowl and began flipping through the pages of a large book with writing in an unrecognizable language. He paused after a moment, glancing at Kuramochi with a frown. "No sharing fairy secrets."

Kuramochi flipped him off in reply. Turning his attention to Miyuki, he asked, "Any idea on how this happened?"

Miyuki laughed. "The world going insane, Sawamura sprouting wings, and you talking like this is all par for course in typical day? Not a clue."

"I meant, how you're a half blood. At least one of your parents has a lot of explaining to do. Half bloods aren't-" He gestured uncomfortably. "Well they're not-" He looked to Sawamura.

"Even among the fey, half bloods are taboo," Sawamura supplied, though he was far more focused on what ever he was reading. His finger was trailing along the text, occasionally rummaging through his bag and pulling small bottles and vials out, labeled in the same foreign writing. Just how was all that hidden in there?

"It's one of the rules that falls across all species that make up the Haven," Kuramochi continued to explain, though he was awkward as he did so. "There are 'problems' that come with interbreeding with humans. But you seem healthy, so um, go you. Many die in childhood. I heard interbred wolf pups rarely make it through their first shift. I don't know all the issues that come with fey half bloods."

"Well, making it past childhood _is_ the big one, really." Sawamura looked up to give him a half smile. "I mean, genetic problems would have shown themselves by now. Um, they tend not to live as long, but I mean, fey already live longer than humans." He frowned. "So, honestly you'll still probably make it to triple digits."

 _Honestly_ , he wasn't sure how he was supposed to process this. Genetic problems; likely childhood death? He thought back to his mom before she passed. How she would always fuss over him, how she'd constantly praise him for being so healthy and strong. Could this be why? He shook his head. From what they were describing, with taboo and genetic complications... "So, I'm like an incest baby?"

Kuramochi's face flushed. He looked away before answering. "Er, well, in a sense, but like I said, you seem fine. Sawamura, what are you doing?"

 _Smooth_ , Miyuki thought but he didn't mind the change of subject.

Sawamura finished mixing whatever it was he was making, and grabbed amulet from his pile to replace the one he'd given him. The liquid was thick and black and if Sawamura thought he was going to drink that, he'd have another thing coming. "It's part of the spell. He needs extra power because he's so much older. Sorry, I've got to sit on you now because i've got to write on your back, okay? It's got to be precise, and being left handed doesn't help."

Miyuki's brows furrowed but before he could question, Sawamura had settled himself across his legs and placed one hand on his neck. He heard him mumble something and an odd sensation spilled down from his touch. Miyuki's eyes locked with Kuramochi in silent question. Kuramochi just shrugged back, but didn't look concerned.

Sawamura grabbed the bowl and the book and all of a sudden, it felt like he was finger painting on his back. Kuramochi leaned forward, tilting his head to the side as though it would help him make out the strange lettering being written across his bare skin. Despite the pain still lingering just below the surface, his touch did nothin to aggravate it.

"That looks really complex. Are you sure it's okay for you to be trying that? Isn't spell casting supposed to be really hard?"

"Hey!" Sawamura paused in his actions. "I do know what I'm doing," he huffed. Miyuki bit back a laugh. One comment and gone was the semi serious Sawamura. "My parents made me learn when I was little, okay? They were really strict about it. I've spent more time studying magic than I have math!"

Miyuki's seen his math scores. He absolutely believes him.

"Is that normal?" Kuramochi questioned.

"Somewhat. But I am a bit good at it too. I mean Wakana can't do this sort of thing, and we learned at the same time."

Oh, he knew what was coming now.

 _And three, two, one..._

"Waka- Wakana!" Kuramochi sputtered.

"Uh, yeah, we're the same clan."

"Wakana's a fairy?" Kuramochi stood, bouncing slightly on the palls of his feet, like he didn't know whether he was going to strangle the boy or hug him.

"Yeah," Sawamura answered, bemused as though he hadn't just dropped yet another bomb on the lot of them.

"I knew she was your girlfriend!"

 _And here we go._

"She's not my girlfriend!"

 _Right on cue._

"Ow," Miyuki groaned. Okay, that was not light pressure. Did he forget what he was supposed to be doing?

"Sorry." Sawamura eased up. "She's practically family. Anyways, I need to concentrate."

"Please," Miyuki hissed through his teeth.

Kuramochi stretched, a grin still plastered across his face. "Anything I can do to help? I added an extra ward on the outside door by the way. Your welcome."

"Actually, yeah. We're going to need lots of water and cloths. Like a bucket? His wings will need a wipe down. Sometimes it's messy."

 _Great. That sounded just lovely._ He did not need to hear this.

"Right. Be back in a minute."

After the door closed, Miyuki tilted his head, trying to catch a glimps at the boy still making himself comfortable on his back end. "So what happens now?"

Sawamura hummed in thought. "Once I'm done, we can induce your wings out. It's a lot easier this way. Less painful."

Miyuki gave a half hearted chuckle. "This is the less painful way?"

"Without help, getting your baby wings is like, a leading cause of death among children."

"Wonderful." Perhaps if these people believed in hospitals, there'd be a lot less dying all the time. So far, from what he could gather, which admittedly wasn't a lot, being a supernatural being, sucked.

"If it's any consolation, I really am sorry this is happening. It's really lucky- well, I mean, my being here. There's just not all that many fey in this part of the world, right?"

Miyuki was silent. What if this really was real. If this was really happening, then that would mean one of his parents- his mom- was actually this creature. That she'd kept this a secret, taken it to her grave, and left him alone, so very much more alone than he'd ever been before... It was a sobering line of thought, and he tried to push it aside. But this wasn't real. It couldn't be. Even after seeing Sawamura's wings, after Kuramochi speaking casually about magic, after the god awful pain still searing just below the surface of his skin whenever he made the slightest move; how could he believe this was real?

"But don't worry. This time, I can help you! Just keep that in mind next time we're in the bullpen."

Miyuki chuckled. "You're unbelievable." It could have been worse. If this was real, then it could have been a lot worse. If Sawamura hadn't found him... "What are you even doing?"

"Spell weaving. It combines multiple disciplines of casting in order to amplify a particular power." He was speaking lightly, almost a mumble, his concentration elsewhere. "It's kind of hard to explain. Don't worry, you won't need to learn anything advanced like this. Basic warding and simple charms to remain hidden is really what most learn."

"But not you." It wasn't a question.

"My family's pretty old, they have expectations. I don't really mind, but yeah, it kind of sucked as a kid. They'd hold baseball over my head until i finished my work."

"Ha, probably the only reason it worked."

"Probably." He could tell the boy was grinning above him.

Kuramochi reentered a few minutes later carry a basin of water and a pile of old towels. He set them beside Sawamura, who was just finishing up. The shortstop let out a low whistle.

"I checked, the wards are holding. That looks like some high level shit, are you sure you did it right? He's not going to turn into a frog or anything?"

"Yep. All ready to be induced. Best stay back, baby wings aren't small, they just can't carry our weight."

Kuramochi gave him a thumbs up, tucking himself into the lower bunk. Sawamura moved to the side and handed Miyuki a clean towel. "Bite on that."

"Wha-"

"Trust me. It'll be over fast."

He had no choice but to trust him. He'd been right about everything else so far. Sawamura rubbed his hands together for half a minute before placing them on Miyuki's shoulder blades.

"Alright," he said. "Here we go."

There was a flash of light, Kuramochi gasping, and pain. Oh god he was being ripped out. His teeth clenched down, but Miyuki suspected it was actually meant to muffle his scream. And then nothing. Spots of white clouded his vision, his entire body felt like it was floating. Was Kuramochi yelling? He closed his eyes, just for a moment.

Miyuki opened his eyes with sleepy clarity. He'd passed out, hadn't he? Kuramochi and Sawamura were both out of his field of vision, conversing lowly, but he could feel them.

His eyes snapped open. He could feel them, feel them touching something that wasn't his before, something that was never there. Damp cloths on nerves that didn't used exist. A gasp left his mouth, drawing their attention.

"Back with us, huh?" Kuramochi grinned down at him. "Well, you were only out for a few minutes."

Miyuki took heavy breaths, trying to catch his bearings. And the pain, thankfully, seemed to have ebbed away. It was gone. "That was," he swallowed, taking another breath, "the worst experience of my entire life."

He twitched the new feeling on his back. A couple of feet shuffled and he felt _them_ brush against something, or someone rather.

"Watch it," Kuramochi grumbled. "You sure these are _baby_ wings?"

"Yeah, mine too. Mine were, I mean." Sawamura stuttered, fidgeting with his figures. "Getting my wings. It was the worst."

He looked scared. If something was wrong..? His head was all floaty as it was, he wasn't sure how much more he could take. Wasn't sure he was taking this, as is.

"Can I see them?" Miyuki asked. He'd been laying on the floor for what felt like hours. Every part of him felt cramped and stiff. Not to mention, he had wings. His mind was not going to accept that until he saw them.

"It would be easier to wait till we've finished cleaning them off..." Sawamura hesitated.

"Here." Kuramochi gave him his hand to help him to his feet. He really needed it too. His balance felt completely off and when he twisted his body, he felt them hit the desk, or bed, or whatever. _Wings were not made for dorm rooms_ , his mind supplied sarcastically.

He shuffled awkwardly, to look in the small mirror hanging on the far wall.

"I brought one of my shirts for you. It's got slits for your wings. I can help it on you once we've finished cleaning up... Miyuki?"

 _They're beautiful._

He twitched his shoulders. Tall, dark wings flapped, causing loose papers to rustle and a red sheen of dust caught the light and glittered. Deep purple and red stretched from ceiling to floor, jetting out far more roughly than Sawamura's had, the edges coming to harsh points. They reminded him of the last moments of dusk on the night of a storm, right before the last traces of sunlight disappeared from view.

"Whoa, try not to move them. This room is way too small. Miyuki? Hey?"

 _This was real. This was really happening. They were real._ He could _feel_ them. They were _a part_ of him.

"Hey, Miyuki, Miyuki Kazuya, can you hear me?"

His breath quickened. All of a sudden there just wasn't enough air in the room.

 _This was real. This was happening. There were fairies._ He was a fairy. He was _one of them._

His chest hurt. He couldn't breath.

 _There were fairies. He was a fairy._

He gasped for breath.

"Sawamura, hey Sawamura, I think he's going into shock, or having a panic attack, or something."

It felt like his throat was closing up on him. His eyes darted down to his hands. They were shaking violently.

"Shit, what do we do?"

 _He was a fairy._

He clutched at his chest. He needed to breath. Were those tears running down his face?

"I don't know, you're the expert! Help him."

His head began to spin. Miyuki reached out and placed his other hand against the wall, gasping for breath. _How was this real? This couldn't be real. He didn't want this!_

"Not at this kind of thing! Miyuki-senpai, hey, snap out of it."

Was someone talking to him? There was a hand on his shoulder, coaxing him back.

"Crouch down, come on, with me." Kuramochi was taking his arm, urging him down. "It'll help you breath. Come on, like this." He crouched on his knees. With the things on his back, it was impossible to sit in any position but as a ball, as though he were taking cover.

 _He had things on his back. He had wings._

"We're gonna need to get a stool," Sawamura mumbled to himself, wide eyed and unsure how to help.

Kuramochi ignored him, all focus on Miyuki. "Just breath, in and out. It's okay, we've got you. You're fine, you hear me. There's nothing wrong with you."

Getting the idea, Sawamura sat at his other side, placing a hand on his shoulder. The gesture seemed to help. "Right, you're fine Miyuki Kazuya. You're a fairy, just like I am. We're the same thing, so it's going to be okay." He squeezed in encouragement and began drawing circles with his thumb. "I have wings too and I've been living a perfectly normal life at Seidou. Kuramochi's can turn into a wolf, and nobody ever knew. We're fine, this is normal. You'll be fine too."

Miyuki tried to focus on the heat of Sawamura's hand and the thumb trying to gently calm him.

"Just keep breathing." He slowed his breath, struggling to listen to what Kuramochi was saying. "Sawamura will teach you how to hide your wings. All you need is that amulet and no one will know what you are." It was hard to concentrate, but he swallowed his breath, willing himself to come back. "There aren't just some of us out there, there are millions of us, and nobody suspects a thing. All living perfectly normal lives, just like you will."

He felt cold all over. He sniffled his noes and Kuramochi hastily handed him a pile of tissues. Miyuki shakily cleaned off his face with the dawning realization that his eyes weren't just running, he'd been out right crying. He felt himself flush. Of course he'd have a breakdown in front of the two people he'd never want to see him like this.

 _This is real_ , his head told him dully. This is actually happening. He felt empty all of a sudden. Empty and tired. He knew the truth now, couldn't hide it. It hurt. How could you feel empty but also hurt?

"It was my mom." He started talking. Guess it was time to reassure them that he wasn't gonna lose it. Prove that he was fine.

 _He wasn't._

"It had to be. But she passed away." He got up and looked at their wide eyed expressions. It was comical. Sawamura looked like he'd just swallowed a bug. Miyuki felt his mouth twitch.

"What?" Kuramochi breathed. He had to have had some clue. Miyuki had never mentioned his mother in any way; only his dad when he talked of seeing family on the holidays. Kuramochi must have picked up on that and known better than to remark, just as he'd never commented on Kuramochi's lack of father when he mentioned going home.

Miyuki sighed. Sawamura was still acting odd. It wasn't that shocking. Lots of kids had dead parents. That was life, after all. "When I was young. So she never had the chance to tell me. Go figure."

Sawamura looked away, frowning with gritted teeth and clenched fists. Was he mad? What wasn't he saying?

"What?" Kuramochi asked, also confused by his reaction. Sawamura stiffened. "Out with it."

The boy hesitated, becoming ever more flustered. Something told him he wasn't going to like what ever he was about to say.

"He's from the Unseelie Fall Court. You can tell by the wings."

It had to be more than that. It was good to know, he guessed, but right now, it meant nothing to him.

"And?" Kuramochi prompted. Apparently that meant as much to him as it did Miyuki.

"Erm." He locked eyes with Miyuki's. "Well, they tend to be dicks..."

Miyuki gave a small smile while Kuramochi chuckled "That explains a lot. He'll fit right in."

Sawamura did not join their amusement.

"Maybe, if he weren't a _halfbreed_." He spat the last word like it was a particularly disgusting meal.

Kuramochi sobered. "Oh." Evidently that _was_ something important. Halfing, half blood, halfbreed; yeah, he got the picture. They were probably not very common, and not particularly liked.

"Uh, how did your mom die? If you don't mind." Miyuki's eyes shot up, causing Sawamura to flinch back. What did that have to do with anything? It was not exactly a subject he liked to dwell on. "It's just... Never mind."

"Why?" This had to have something to do with why Sawamura was acting so cagey.

"Some clans-" He was nervous- "Well, I don't know for sure what they would do, but, halflings _aren't_ _allowed_."

It was like a cup of cold water had been poured down his back. A sick feeling started to twist in his gut. Never would he have considered... "What are you suggesting?"

And he was angry.

Miyuki felt his entire body fill with cool rage. You don't ask how someone died and follow it with stating they were guilty of something- _'not allowed'_. What was Sawamura playing at? Did he know what he was suggesting?

"Nothing, it's nothing, just me being stupid and thinking out loud," the boy backtracked.

 _No, go on_ , Miyuki thought bitterly. His life had already been ribbed apart. Might as well take the last shreds of an innocent past from him too. That he was the reason, that had he not been born...

"Well then, keep your mouth shut," Kuramochi snapped. "We know very little about what's going on, or what's even going to happen to him."

"It's fine, it'll be fine," Sawamura squeaked. "I'll take responsibility; my family will claim him."

Breathing out through his nose, Miyuki tried to push his suspicions aside. This wasn't the time to start digging up the past and jumping to conclusions. He had a pair for freaking fairy wings on his back. That needed to be his focus, that needed to be his priority. He couldn't let himself lose it again. "What do you mean, claim me?"

"Unseelie Fey are the assholes of our kind."

"Yeah, I'm getting that," he answered coldly.

"They have strict rules against humans," Sawamura explained. He'd figured that part out already. "They won't accept a halfling as one of their own. My clan, on the other hand, doesn't give a damn about that kind of thing." He grinned proudly. "We don't blame the kids for their parents, nor will we let a fellow fey be abandoned without protection."

Miyuki shook his head. "That doesn't answer my question."

"You'll basically be adopted into my family." _What?_ "But only by fairy law. It won't affect your actual family."

"No." _Was he being serious? "_ No way."

Sawamura startled. "It'll have no human world consequences," he clarified, as though that were the issue here. "You basically just have to sign a paper, and that's it."

Miyuki felt his anger return. "No."

"But-"

"I'm not joining your family, Sawamura," he hissed out. "Are you insane?"

"But it's totally cool. And you need a clan to represent you." He wasn't getting it, and looked so lost at Miyuki's harsh reaction.

"Didn't you just say that I could live a perfectly normal life and hide myself?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then let me. I don't want _anything_ to do with this." There. Now let it rest.

"That's not how it works," the boy huffed.

Miyuki wasn't going to let those puppy dog eyes sway him. He could pout all he wanted. This was ridiculous. "Tough. I don't want this, and by the sounds of it, _they don't want_ _me_. If I could cut off these wings, I would."

Sawamura gaped, horrified. "Don't even joke about that. It would kill you."

"Miyuki, you don't understand," Kuramochi cut in. He'd curled up on one of the beds but still looked at him with very serious eyes. "It's dangerous to not belong to a clan, or family, or pack, whatever. Hunters exist, they know what we are, and things like wings, and pelts, sell for fortunes on the black market. Threat of retribution is the only thing keeping us safe, human laws don't apply to us. The Haven will simply make our existence disappear in order to protect the knowledge of our kind."

Miyuki frowned. This just kept getting better and better. He didn't want any of this. "You said as long as I wear this amulet, and learn some simple spells, I can keep hidden and no one will know?" He couldn't believe he even said all that, fully serious.

"Yes, but that's no guarantee," Sawamura told him. "You never know who's watching. And you don't know what your mothers clan will do! They might have-"

"I know." And there it was, the real crux of the issue. "Which is exactly why I don't want anything to do with any of this! It's best I remain unknown." He was human, or was until an hour ago. And he still had his father to worry about. He didn't want this anywhere near him. And like hell was he going to be adopted by freaking Sawamura.

"But-"

"Hey, let's just drop it for now," Kuramochi interrupted. He was considering him carefully. "He needs time."

"I don't need time." Great, he was gonna stay on his case too. "I know what you're thinking. I'm not going to change my mind." He turned to Sawamura. "I'm not going to be your _big brother_ , or what ever you're thinking."

"That's not-"

"If he wasn't here, I'd be offering you a spot in my pack," Kuramochi continued. "But trust me, his offer is better. You should be with your own kind. But we can put that aside for now."

The three of them silently fumed at each other. Well, Miyuki fumed, Kuramochi just looked annoyed at the idiocy around him, while Sawamura was somewhere between tears of rejection or about to challenge him to a duel over family honer. Miyuki was not going to relent because his kohai had the gift of being both astonishingly annoying and nauseatingly adorable at times.

Kuramochi grinned. "So what's next?"

Sawamura quickly explained through proper wing care and exercises he needed to practice. He fitted him in on of his fey shirts and had him practice retracting and releasing his wings. He wasn't to do any strenuous activity. Apparently new wings had a tendency to 'pop' if over excited; something that could be extremely painful under clothing, not to mention, revealing himself to everyone surrounding him. There was a whole process to collected his dust, which he would need for proper spell casting. Honestly, Sawamura seemed more excited at the prospect of having someone to help him with his own dust collection, than anything else.

"You have no idea how much it hurts your shoulders to try to just, shake it all off," Sawamura was explaining. Miyuki tried his best to pay attention but his eyes always drifted to the mirror on the wall. "So much easier when someone can just brush them down for you."

"Uh huh," he barely acknowledged. There wings were so different. Sawamura's fit him perfectly, bright and welcoming. His, while he wouldn't call them threatening, there was a certain warning behind them; like when you saw a colourful caterpillar and just knew it was likely poisonous. He guessed 'bug', _was_ an appropriate colloquialism.

"It needs to be done roughly once a month, but I've pushed it to two. You really shouldn't though. It's bad to let your body absorb that much excess dust, it can start showing."

Miyuki's head turned. "What do you mean, showing?"

Sawamura sat on the floor, grinning like the idiot he was. Probably giddy that he now had a fairy 'playmate'. Miyuki shivered. "Well, it starts shedding other ways. Like through your skin. Eventually it'll be noticeable to others that you've kind of got glitter on you."

He stared. _Unbelievable_. "Your joking," he deadpanned. That was thoroughly a scenario he never wanted to experience.

"Nope. Actually I'm really surprised no body noticed my last one, heh." Sawamura scrunched up his face, trying to recall.

All this time, and the boy really did sparkle. Well damn. At least he wasn't seeing things.

"Huh, I just thought you were getting super sweaty all the time. You were just sweating fairy dust," Kuramochi commented, idly flipping though one of Miyuki's sports magazines. The catcher wondered if the day would come when he too, would find this all so blasé.

"Here I thought only vampires sparkled. Isn't that the new thing?" Miyuki couldn't help but sardonically mention. The whole thing was ridiculous. But then he remembered his back was also sporting a pair of giant ass wings.

Sawamura frowned. "I doubt a vampire would want to sparkle, would kind of ruin their nocturnal hunter thing going on if they were constantly being caught in the light."

Kuramochi tisked, looking up. "He wasn't- never mind. Not bothering." And he flipped a page.

"So, vampires are real then?" _Because, of course they were._

"Of course! They've done some of the worst jobs at keeping secret over the years," Sawamura replied irritably. "Uppity, high maintenance, egotistical, nuisances is what Gramps likes to call them."

Miyuki's mouth twitched. Seriously unbelievable. "I guess I should ask what else is out there? I suppose ghosts and witches; anything I should be concerned about?"

Sawamura nodded enthusiastically. "Pretty much everything, though they mostly stick to their own kind. We take secrecy so seriously, it's really rare to reveal ones self to another creature without good reason." He nodded to Kuramochi who just grunted in affirmation, having gone back to his magazine. "And some things are more dangerous than others. You can't always trust them just because they're part of the Haven. Like a kitsune, never trust a kitsune, and kappa's, they can be pretty nasty at times."

Sawamura started listing off a string of creatures from legend and folklore, basically telling him to avoid all of them, and making a special emphasis on predators- _Nasty creatures. Never trust em. Vicious killers._ He could see Kuramochi's face grow increasingly red as the list went on, his brow ever furrowing.

"They'll steal your children and turn em to field mice!"

Finally he snapped, giving in to kicking Sawamura in the rear with a growl. "The hell, Sawamura, you fey afraid of everything? You're making it sound like we're all a bunch of bloodthirsty, thieving, assholes."

"They're not all bad!"- Kuramochi rolled his eyes.- "I mean some are really cool, too. Like, _really_ cool," he exclaimed, face lighting up.

"Like what?" Miyuki asked, knowing the kid was dying for him to. But he did sort of wonder what predator could elicit such a reaction.

Sawamura grinned as though he were about to divulge a great secret. "Naga," he breathed reverently.

"Naga?" Kuramochi repeated, unimpressed.

"They're snakes with arms!" he cried, as though that explained everything.

 _The future ace of Seidou, ladies and gentlemen._

Miyuki closed his eyes. "Good to know where your bar sits, I suppose."

Kuramochi laughed, causing Sawamura to bluster up and turn red in indignation.

"No, but they really are! And they have some pretty powerful magic, but no ones even seen one in over a hundred years," he finished sadly.

"No ones seen a lot of things in modern times," exasperated Kuramochi. "We like to keep secret, remember."

"Someone should tell that to the vampires," Sawamura grumbled.

Miyuki snorted. "Right, I think I get the picture." They'd be there all night if this continued. And if he was being honest, he really just wanted to curl up in bed and hope this all turned out to be a dream, come morning. "Anything else I need to know?"

Sawamura shrugged. "Just the typical cultural stuff you should be aware of, festivals, and gentry, but we can go over that later. For now, we should just focus on wing maintenance and basic warding, and magic repression spells."

"Right," Miyuki nodded. _How was this really happening?_ Kuramochi started snickering causing him to look over. "What?"

"It just hit me, wait till you learn about those fairy festivals." Kuramochi could barely contain his mirth. Sawamura frowned. "Hey, it's not just rumours, I've seen the art. I _know_ what you guys wear."

Miyuki could see the exact moment Sawamura's scowl turned to comprehension, and he took on a deep shade of red.

"Those- those are traditional fey garments! They're perfectly respectable in fey society." He started sputtering and then pointed to Kuramochi accusingly. "Oi! Your kind like to hang around naked when ever you get together. Don't talk to me about modesty."

Kuramochi's smile never left his face. "Uh-huh. We changed into wolves, and redress as soon as we change back. Your comparing fairy orgy parties to us using the woods as a changing room."

Miyuki choked. _Fairy what!?_

"That's not what they are!" Sawamura fumed. "We don't- it's not like that!"

"Oh my god," Miyuki gaped. Sawamura wasn't out right denying it. Nope, checking a giant nope next to any fairy festivals Sawamura tries to drag him too. Respecting culture be damned.

Kuramochi slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Yep, you're part of a race that parties half naked in what is basically one big mating festival," he continued on, clearly enjoying imparting these special bits of information for him the maul over.

"That's just a stereotype! It's not like that at all." Sawamura was so red, it was a wonder there wasn't steam coming from his ears.

"Uh-huh," Kuramochi humored.

Stereotype or not, Miyuki was sure there was reason such a misconception would exist. And he never wanted to find out why. "Suddenly more and more glad I'm not part of a clan."

"He's exaggerating," Sawamura hushed. "So tradition fey formal wear is a little revealing, but it's not that bad. Like, I don't know, think roman toga's, they're kinda like that, though the material's really fine. It's just... Some of the the women's..." His voice quieted a bit and turned into a mumble while he blushed.

"What was that?" Kuramochi asked, holding a hand up to his ear. He was enjoying this way too much. "Didn't quite catch it."

"It's- it's a little see through, sometimes," he grumbled and then added something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like _Europeans_.

Miyuki smirked as a thought dawned on him. He looked over to Kuramochi. "So then is that the kind of thing Wakana wears?"

Kuramochi stilled. "What?"

It was hilarious, you could see every emotion play itself over his face; from shock, to horror, to jealously, and ultimately embarrassment.

Unfortunately Sawamura had to break the fun early. "Naw, we're still considered kids till our adult wings come in. We're not even allowed at the spring festival till then, but she wouldn't wear one of those anyways. Right now the summer festival is the only big one we can attend."

"See, I told you," Kuramochi recovered, now that Wakana's modesty had been preserved. "Orgies."

"That's not what it is!" the boy shouted. Too much more, and he was like to blow a gasket.

"You know, nothing you've said has really helped your case, Sawamura," Miyuki pointed out, unable to keep a straight face.

Sawamura huffed. "The spring festival _can_ get a little-" He made a gesture -"out of hand. Or so I've heard. But it's nothing like Kuramochi's so indecently implying. So some people might get a little drunk on fairy wine, and it _is_ a celebration for the young adults; it's kind of meant as a mixer, you know? All the young fairies get together to mingle."

Sounded like a collage party.

"Mingle. Is that what we're calling it these days?" Kuramochi smirked.

"You say- you call it that, and you make it sound like, well... It's not like that! If you happen to meet someone you like, why shouldn't you pursue them? Nothing indecent happens there." The boy was trying entirely too hard to justify his cause.

"Fairies are rather infamous for their promiscuity," Kuramochi informed him as an aside.

"Shut up!" Sawamura howled. "You make us sound like a bunch of hedonists!"

Wow, at this rate, he might actually make Sawamura combust. Miyuki didn't think he'd ever seen the boy so ready to absolutely strangle the life out of Kuramochi before.

Kuramochi only laughed. "I'm impressed you even know that word!"

"At least we value love and personal freedom! Our women are free to do as they like, unlike wolves. Don't your alpha's hoard them like personal harems? It's gross."

Miyuki blinked. That was new. He'd never seen Sawamura verbally go for the jugular before.

Kuramochi's expression soured. "I'm not about to explain pack dynamics to you."

While Miyuki enjoyed a good nettling, he knew when a line was coming close to being crossed, and he sensed shit was about to turn personal. "Okay, okay. So now that we've all had the introductory course to the importance of cultural relativism, maybe we should drop it."

Sawamura closed his mouth, cutting off what ever he was about to say to retaliate. Instead he scrunched up his nose and knelt to clean the remaining of his supplies, muttering, "they're not orgies," under his breath.

Kuramochi silently mouthed, "they are."


	2. Chapter 2

The week ran far smoother than Miyuki ever expected it too. He strongly suspected that both Sawamura and Kuramochi were using magic on him to hide his own pathetic attempts to keep his under wraps. His wings, once he got the hang of them, were not so bad. Sawamura had designated himself his fairy senpai and took the responsibility very seriously. But it also puffed up his self importance enough for Kuramochi to almost constantly have him in a headlock, or some other uncomfortable position. If before he could be compared to a puppy, constantly trailing after him while asking to catch, now he was like a helicopter mom fussing over a five year old on their first day of school. In short, he was a nightmare of annoyance.

 _You've got to stretch them harder. Really push out - like this_

 _You do realize that without your wings out, you just look constipated right now._

 _Shut up! There's not enough room. I mean I guess I could-_

 _Don't you dare, you get glitter everywhere._

 _It's not glitter! Fairy dust is very-_

 _Yeah, yeah, anyways how much longer do we have to do this?_

 _Tired already? Haha! What kind of baseball player are you? Can't even work your shoulder muscles a bit?_

 _Shoulder muscles? I'm sorry Sawamura, but my workout routine never included wings stretches before. Should I ask the managers to add it to the program?_

 _Of course not! And that's Sawamura-senpai now._

 _In your dreams, Bakamura._

Begrudgingly, Miyuki had admitted to himself that he was glad Sawamura was there. He'd have been completely lost had there not been another fairy on campus - maybe even dead, which was a sobering thought. How does one come to terms with learning they're part of a race of mythological creatures? That there aren't actually mythological creatures at all, but they all co exist without him ever being the wiser? Not only that, but the revelation about his mother. Should he ask his dad about it? Did he ever know, or would it only upset him to poke around asking questions? The worst was questioning whether his existence had anything to do with her death. Sawamura had danced around it, but the implication was clear; it was not unheard of for a fairy to be removed if they shamed their clan by having a human's child.

He didn't like to think on it. The only way he was staying sane, was by letting everything go and just pretending it was all nothing. His wing stretching in Kuramochi's room? The same as having to do physiotherapy on an injury. Him having to don certain jewelry before going out? Just like he had to put on his deodorant for the day. Sawamura's constant pestering? Well it was still Sawamura's constant pestering.

The weekend arrived quickly, and with it the reality that nothing would ever be the same again. Sawamura had contacted Wakana to bring all the supplies he would need to get by independently while at school, since they very well couldn't send magical items via mail. She was meeting him, Sawamura, and Kuramochi at noon by a coffee shop off campus. Kuramochi was tagging along because they said it was better not to have too many of one species gathered in the same place; something about magic energy being amplified. As much as he hated to admit it, some of what Sawamura and Kuramochi said, was starting to make sense to him. They'd talk about the Haven and magic so casually while he worked on his wing control. He supposed they were just happy to finally have someone they could vent to, as it mostly consisted of a lot of bitching. There were all these rules about staying secret and never revealing themselves. They both supposed there were at least a few other Havener's on the team. Apparently magic calls to magic, and those with it would be drawn to others. Kuramochi was convinced Sachiko was a predator of _some_ sort.

They arrived at the coffee shop without incident. Sawamura was brimming with excitement at seeing his childhood friend while Kuramochi had spent a good twenty minutes deciding what to wear - not that he would admit that was what took him so long. Not sure why he should care anymore, didn't he have to stick to his own kind, after all? Wasn't that why Miyuki was in the mess he was?

"Wakana!" Sawamura waved, running over to a girl sitting at a corner table with a large duffle bag at her feet.

"Ei-chan," she grinned back, rising from her seat. "It's good to see you again."

Her eyes drifted to the two standing awkwardly behind him. "Hey," Miyuki waved. And then to his horror, they welled up in tears. Miyuki was shocked still when the girl suddenly hugged him.

"I'm so sorry. So, so, _so_ , sorry this happened to you," she said while Sawamura made a sound of protest. Miyuki glanced at Kuramochi, who looked ready to murder him, when she backed off, picking up her bag. That was- unexpected. "Well, you guys should make your orders to go. There's a park near by, right Ei-chan? This isn't a conversation we need in public."

Miyuki grabbed a coffee and followed the others out of the shop, Kuramochi giving him squinty eyes and grumbling the entire time.

"Kuramochi-san, right?" she said, falling in step beside him as they followed Sawamura to where ever they were going.

Kuramochi raised his eyebrows. "Yeah. You remembered?"

"Of course. You're Ei-chan's roommate. He talks about you often. Well the two of you, actually."

"Wakana," Sawamura whined.

Miyuki couldn't help but grin. "So, you talk about me often? What about, I wonder?"

"That you're a shitty senpai and have a personality to match!" Sawamura shouted.

"Hahaha, thank you!"

"That's not a complement!"

"Ei-chan speaks very highly of you on the field," she cut in. Sawamura's mouth dropped in betrayal, which only caused Miyuki to laugh more. "But that you're off field social skills use some work."

At that, Kuramochi broke out instead. "Kyhahaha. She's got you there."

"But, thank you, Kuramochi-san. I understand you've been helping out, and added extra warding to the rooms. You never had to reveal yourself, and could have just backed out once it was obviously a fey issue."

"Oh, well, it was nothing. Plus I wasn't about to trust this idiot to not screw up somewhere." Wakana giggled and Kuramochi turned red. "I mean, Miyuki's captain of a big shot baseball school. Someone will notice if we aren't careful enough."

"Right," she agreed. "I brought everything I could think of to help. So hopefully you won't have to watch over him too much anymore."

"Oh thank god," Miyuki injected. "The two of them are worse than a pair of mother hens."

"Not giving you any peace?"

"The last thing I see and first person I wake up to everyday is Sawamura. It's been a nightmare."

Wakana rose an eyebrow.

"Hey!" Sawamura protested while Kuramochi cackled. "I have to make sure all your magic's in check! It's not like I want to be stuck constantly resetting your spells. Hurry and learn it your self."

Miyuki ruffled his hair. "And you call me a bad senpai."

Sawamura pouted, his face turning red.

It wasn't long before they found a secluded picnic bench to sit at. It was half under a few trees and well away from the path. Any children in the park were well off. To anyone watching, they just looked like a couple of teens out enjoying their weekend.

"Alright," Wakana began, plopping the duffle bag on the table. "We got all the basics here." She began pulling things out. "Basic wing care kit. Comes with wing brush, dust collection sheets and pouches, and a gentle cleansing spray in the case of irritation-" Her eyes flicked up.

 _"It was one time!"_

And pressed her lips to suppress a smile. _"_ Basic junior spelling kit; Ei-chan will run through that with you, but it's got all you need for warding and beginner amulets." A few shirts came out next. "You're bigger than Ei-chan, so I paid a visit to my cousin for these. They're clean and have rarely been worn. You really only need them for when you're dusting or stretching your wings. You've got a sweater, and t-shirt, and one traditional in the off chance you need to formally meet another fey."

Miyuki nodded his head to every item brought out. It was truly surreal sitting in a group of two other fairies, a wolf, and sipping coffee, calmly discussing magical items, all neatly packed in starter kits like those you'd order off the television. All he wanted was to focus on baseball. How did it turn to this?

"These are wing pads. I'm sure Ei-chan already explained them to you?" She looked at Sawamura who was just nodding along, letting his friend take the lead. Wing pads; he'd have to wear them under his baseball uniform to keep his wings from accidentally releasing in the chance he gets over excited and loses control. He'd only need them until he had full trust in his abilities. Sawamura had even explained that with focus, his wings could release strong enough to slice through any clothing he was wearing.

He took another sip from his coffee. "Thank you, Aotsuki-san. This is really more than I could ever pay back."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, no, it's nothing. And Wakana is fine. We're all from the Haven anyways. But you're the one we should be asking forgiveness from. Our people have done you a horrible injustice." She glanced to Sawamura who shook his head. Miyuki watched them, unsure what that was about. "Anyways, in our clan, this sort of thing would not be tolerated. You're one of us now. We look out for our own."

The way she looked at him, with such conviction, it stunned him. She was practically a stranger.

"Be thankful, Miyuki," Kuramochi began. "Not all of us are so understanding. The taboo of being a halfblood will follow you for the rest of your life, even if it is complete bullshit."

"You guys really are making too much of this," Miyuki told them. "I intend to live as normally as possible, if that now includes having to dust every month, fine. But I don't expect for anyone outside of this little group to ever find out."

"But you're joining Sawamura's clan, right?" she asked.

Sawamura shifted uncomfortably. "Wakana-"

Great, it was coming down to this again. "I don't intend to, no," he disclosed, hoping that would be the end of that.

"Well, it's not really something up for debate," she continued on with a wry smile.

"Wakana-"

"Shush." Wakana turned to her friend. "Why haven't you explained this to him?"

"I tried," the boy pouted. "We were just going to leave it be for now."

 _For now, my ass._ "I'm not changing my mind on this, Sawamura."

Wakana straightened, giving him her full attention. "I don't think you understand just how dangerous it is to go clanless. You're safe now only because we're still considered children. Once your adult wings come in, it's a whole different ballgame."

Which gave him roughly seven years, by Sawamura's estimation. That was plenty of time to adjust to his new life and have things out of control. If everything went according plan, he'd be off playing baseball, with a million camera's watching him. If someone did figure something out, well, they'd have a hard time getting to him, that's for sure. "And by then, I'll have a handle on magic."

"Right, anyways, once you're apart of Ei-chan's clan-"

Miyuki blinked. "I'm not joining his clan."

"And are recognized on the imperial registry as part of his family-"

Kuramochi started laughing. _She was ignoring him._

"Am I talking to air?" he asked to no one in particular.

"All the taboo nonsense will go away," she finished smugly.

Miyuki frowned, shooting Kuramochi a withering look since he seemed to find this all so amusing. "We've been through this already with Sawamura. I've made my decision."

"And it's a stupid one," Wakana scoffed, before taking a long sip from her cup.

Kuramochi's cackling grew. He was shaking his head, barely able to contain himself. "I like her. She's a keeper," he said between wheezes.

Wakana's mouth twitched from behind her cup, while trying to maintain a frown at the same time.

"How about we set this aside for now?" Sawamura tried, unsure as to who's side he should take. It was almost comical seeing him, of all people, attempt he mature route.

"Ei-chan-"

But he gave her the look. Miyuki knew that look. It was the kicked puppy look. Wakana waved off her hand in defeat with a loud sigh. Sawamura's eyes brightened and a grin took over his face.

"For the record, you're both idiots," she told them, slouching down on the bench.

"So what's next?" Miyuki asked, wanting thing to keep moving along and not give them a chance to drift back to the _closed_ topic.

"Next we have the most valuable items. Your spell books and Japanese/Fey language lessons." She began pulling a few large books from the bag. They weren't ordinary books, Miyuki could tell. They were old; pages yellowed and bound in leather. Runic scriptures were embedded along the spines. _Shit, this is the real deal,_ he thought, noticing the way she carefully handled each of them.

"These are the things that you absolutely can not lose possession of. I actually had to go to your parents for this since, god forbid, my parents find ours missing," she explained, nodding to Sawamura. "The fey language is magic itself. You can't simply learn the phonics of a spell and expect it to work. These books are extremely rare and carefully accounted for. Mine are kept locked in secret with like five layers of spells over them. Ei-chan will have to figure out a good way to keep yours safe. Where do you keep your books, Ei-chan?"

"Hmm," he startled and then blushed. "Oh, ah-" He scratched awkwardly at the back of his head. "They're under my bed in a box."

Wakana's mouth dropped.

"They're pushed to the back!" the boy defended. Kuramochi choked on his drink and started snickering. Really, it shouldn't surprise him, Miyuki thought, unable to hold back a smile of his own.

"Eijun!" she flared, raising her voice.

"What? It's not like there isn't a notice-me-not spell on them!" His own voice was rising, as it had a tendency to do when ever he was excited.

"Which only works on humans and would be a dead giveaway to any Havener's searching your room." Her eyes flashed in anger. "It's not like it's human's we need to keep them safe from. Use your head!"

"The room's warded!"

Wakana threw her hands up. "You know, this is precisely why your parents still want me-"

"They don't! And don't bring that up. I'm fine, it's fine. I'll put a few more spells on em if it'll make you happy, _okay_?"

Miyuki and Kuramochi shared a look. It wasn't normal to see Sawamura actually snap at someone.

"Alright Sawamura, calm down. You'll make your girlfriend-"

"She's not my girlfriend and she never will be!" Sawamura fumed at Kuramochi. "I've told you that a hundred times."

Wakana stood up. "I need some air."

"But we're outside." She ignored Sawamura strode away, upset. "Wait-"

Kuramochi held him back. "Whoa there Romeo. Learn to read the room."

"We're not in a-"

"Dude, give her some space. Sounds like you just stepped on a landmine."

"But-"

Miyuki tried to care, but only found himself feeling irritated over the whole thing. He was the one who just had wings spring from his back, he didn't sign up for a lovers squabble too. "Did you turn her down or something? Seems like she's not particularly happy about it."

"It's not like that."

"But she likes you," Miyuki pointed out. That was pretty obvious, given her reaction.

Sawamura huffed. "No! You don't get it, it's complicated."

 _Complicated, right._

"So then there _is_ something going on," Kuramochi grumbled.

"It's, it's just, ugh, promise you won't make a big deal out of this?" Miyuki wasn't promising anything, but Kuramochi nodded. "It's a family thing, okay. We just, sort of, might be, engaged."

"What!" Kuramochi screeched, standing up from his seat. It took a moment for Miyuki to process exactly what he'd just said, but then doubled over in laughter. Sawamura; _engaged_.

"But not really!" Sawamura quickly added, face flushed bright red.

"And here I thought sprouting wings would be the most shocking thing to happen this year," Miyuki gasped between laughs. This really was too much. The entire thing was absurd. Sawamura; engaged. That poor girl must live in a state of constant exasperation.

"You're not listening!"

"Oh, we're listening alright," Kuramochi continued to sulk.

"Our parents decided it when we were born. But once we were old enough to really understand what that meant, we broke it off." Sawamura crossed his arms and slouched in his seat. "She's like my sister, I've already told you that."

The two boys shared a look.

"Are you sure she feels the same way?" Miyuki asked with a shake of his head.

"Of course," he huffed. "It's just her family doesn't agree. Mine were fine with it, but hers are way more conservative and stuff. They still want us to act the part, thinking I'll eventually grow- change my mind, or something."

"Sounds like this is all coming from you."

"She agrees!" As if she hadn't just stormed off after he emphasized their purely platonic relationship. "She just gets upset because they put a lot of pressure on her. She's in a really shitty situation at home. I- I should go talk to her."

Sawamura hesitated, looking at them as though they had some advice to give. Miyuki gave him a shrug; seriously, they were the wrong people for this. With a show of straitening himself up and dusting off, Sawamura strode after in her direction.

Kuramochi was the first to break the silence once he was off. "Un-fucking-believable."

Miyuki's lip twitched into a half smirk. "No kidding."

"She should be the one dumping his ass. She's way out of his league. Ungrateful brat."

Miyuki hummed, looking down at his near empty cup of coffee. They should probably get going soon.

"I mean, if I had a girl like that-"

"You'd what? Ask her to scratch behind your ears?" Miyuki couldn't resist. He was already feeling irritated and Kuramochi's jealousy was too obvious.

"Hey! Don't you start too. Smart assed Bug."

Miyuki's half smirk turned to a full on grin. "Thank you!"

"You don't even know what that means!"

Miyuki laughed. Not like he couldn't figure out it was slang for fey and similar winged beings. The fact that he was started to pick up on the little references actually made all this seem a little more normal.

"So, er, you okay with all of this."

Miyuki's eyebrow rose. Seriously? "A little late to be asking. I'm fine."

Kuramochi leaned against the table, resting his head in his hand. He was looking out in the direction the others had left him. "Right. So what do you think Sawamura's hiding?"

"Huh?" _Aside from being a fairy and engaged?_

"His family. They're some sort of big shots. Gotta be." Kuramochi free hand idly played with his can. "That level of magic he knows. It's not normal." He glanced over to Miyuki. "And it's not just because he just happens to be gifted or something. Kids aren't trained in that level of crafting so young, not without reason. It's dangerous, especially for casters. And betrothals are far from normal out side of the ruling class." Miyuki blinked, seeing the logic in his line of thought. Kuramochi did have a knack for this sort of thing. "I'd say, he's highborn. Both of them. Like part of the gentry, or maybe even nobility."

Sawamura, a nobel? The image of seeing him having to act with decorum in polite society left him snickering. "And poor Wakana-chan has the challenge of keeping _that_ presentable. I almost pity her."

"Don't remind me. Like I said, ungrateful brat.

Wakana and Sawamura soon rejoined them.

"Sorry. Ei-chan said he told you? It's complicated and my family make it difficult. He also told me to tell you that not only am I not his girlfriend but I don't want to be it, either. Happy?" she asked, turning to glare at Sawamura. She stood with her arms crossed, and a scowl on her face. There was definitely background drama they were not being included in.

"They're not going to believe you when you say it like that!"

The girl sighed, retaking her seat. "It's true, guys. Ei-chan and I have always been friends. I know everything about him. When you've seen someone eat a bowl of worms on a dare-"

Sawamura squawked. "It wasn't a whole bowl!"

"Jump into a frozen lake to cure moles-"

"I was young!" he interrupted, affronted. "How was I to know they were supposed to be there!"

Wakana rolled her eyes. "You were twelve! And you still jumped in a lake because a classmate told you to."

 _Wow_ , Miyuki thought. _How was it he'd managed to survive up till now?_

"I got out fast. And there was a new one on my back," the boy defended, before adding with a pout, "They said it was cancer."

"And what about the time you made the cows sick by feeding them chocolate because you wanted chocolate milk?"

By now he and Kuramochi were both laughing. _This was too much, really_.

"That was a logical deduction for a ten year old."

 _And so painfully Sawamura._ He knew how he'd survived, and it was very likely this girl sitting across from him, throughly shredding Sawamura's ego.

"And then there was the time you wet the bed-"

"You promised you'd never tell!" he practically cried. Undoubtably that had been his death blow. "What is this, pick on Eijun day?"

Sawamura's face was bright red and if Miyuki were a better man, he may have felt sorry for him, but as it were, he really wasn't, and Miyuki continued to laugh, even feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Wakana snickered. She enjoyed teasing the boy as much as the rest of them. But really, he made it too easy. "I was just making a point. I'll stop now."

Maybe she really didn't have an unrequited crush on him.

"No, please go on," Miyuki gasped out. His abdominals were beginning to hurt from all the mirth. "These are golden."

"You're all horrible." _This poor boy._ He was huffing and flailing his arms. "Betrayed! I've been betrayed!" Sawamura wailed.

"As you can see, as much of a dream boat as he may at first appear," she said, making a sweeping gesture. "To me, he will still always be that little boy who ate worms and put bugs in my hair."

Miyuki grinned, watching the boy whose eyes sparkled like the sun and continued to, again and again, forever surprise him.

The night of the full moon came and Sawamura was more excited than ever. It was well past midnight and the boy was leading Miyuki out behinds the dorms to a secluded spot out of view. The entire walk he spent muttering about Kuramoch and how it wasn't fair he wouldn't show them his wolf form.

 _For the last time, I'm not changing in front of you. But I will kick your ass if you ask again._

 _But why? You've seen our wings._

 _I never asked to. Besides, your wings don't require you to get naked first._

 _I see you naked all the time._

 _But you're not staring at me like a creep, and if you are, then we have a whole 'nother problem we need to address._

 _What! No, I just wanna see you change._

 _Well, you can't. You contort and it's painful. Plus it's bad enough I told you willingly what I am, I'm not getting in trouble for showing you too._

 _Then come over once you've changed so we can see you. I've heard the wolves can be bigger than cars sometimes._

 _Don't believe everything you hear. Anyways I'm going. Just be happy neither of us have to sneak around anymore._

 _But-_

Honestly, he was shocked it hadn't come down to a wrestling match. Both boys had so much pent up energy, they'd been giving everyone a headache all day. Miyuki was surprised he'd never notice that they seemed to have a monthly cycle where their energy peaked, but honestly, who sees their friend get occasionally hyper and connects that to _werewolf_. He chuckled to himself as they came to a halt.

"Okay, so here's where I usually set up my circle," Sawamura began explaining, while setting out their supplies.

"Arn't you like, a sun fairy," Miyuki asked, watching him work with vague interest. "Why the full moon? We're not even nocturnal."

Sawamura grinned up at him. "There's magic in moon light," he said. His eyes sparkled like a pair of stars reflecting said light and twinkled obnoxiously.

Miyuki averted his gaze. "I don't see why," he groused. "It's just the sun reflecting off a giant rock in the sky."

"Miyuki Kazuya, there's more to it than that and you know it." Sawamura stood up, using his pants to dust off his hands.

"Do I?" The older boy crossed his arms over his chest, while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," the other huffed. "Just look at the tides. If the moon gravity has such an effect on water, what do you think it'll do to magic?"

Miyuki really didn't understand how all that worked, but he wasn't going to tell Sawamura that. "Well it's not like it effects particle waves. If magic is simply an invisible wave-"

"You can't apply science to magic. It doesn't work like that!" he exclaimed, taking offence.

"Science is the language of the universe." Miyuki gestured around them. After all, there was a time when professing the world was round could get you in trouble. "Just because we can't understand it yet, doesn't mean it never will be. We just need the right theory, the right equation."

"I understand it fine. Once you're in tune with it, you'll get it." Sawamura's expression changed. Less defensive, more sympathetic. Miyuki frowned, knowing he was going to be talked down to. "Magic is life, it's a force of nature. You need to respect it and respect it's power."

It was something else, seeing Sawamura trying to act all... sagely? But it might have been more convincing if he hadn't known this was the same boy who thought feeding cows chocolate was a good idea. Miyuki laughed at the memory and decided to nettle him further. "Now it sounds like a dogma. You know, this is how crazy religions are started. You're not a zealot are you?"

The reaction was instant and perfect. "Shut up! I'm being serious. You can't explain how we have the bodies of humans and yet can hide wings under our skin? But how can they be there when even medical science says they're not. You and I both know they are. Well? Or how someone can turn into a wolf, an animal with no relation to humans at all? And all the dozens of other creatures that exist that plain out shouldn't?"

Miyuki smiled. It was fun seeing him get riled up over something he was so passionate about. It was all he could do not to reach out and ruffle his hair. "I can't."

Sawamura gaped and sputtered, not expecting him to concede like that. . "Well- there you go, then... So, there."

Miyuki laughed.

Eventually they got back to the actual task at hand.

"First we have to make a fairy circle," Sawamura said, and then proceeded to do just that. He took a small handful of dust and walked a good size circle around them, large enough to accommedate both their wings and to walk around them with ease, all the while reciting a chant in the fairy tongue.

"That's it," Miyuki asked when he was done. It really didn't seem like much. Once the circle was complete, he thought he saw a slight shimmer of gold, but that was the extent of any magic for projected over them.

"This was the most basic kind," Sawamura explained. "They get more complex the larger and more powerful you go. I can't wait for you to see the casting at the summer festival. Everyone helps form the circle at the sidhe mound. Instead of walking the circle, it's a dance and we sing. The incantation is such a beautiful song-" The boys eyes lit up with a far off look as he lost himself to whatever he was reliving. "-And everyone knows the different parts to form a harmony so strong, even the earth whispers back. And the ground erupts with magic so strong you can even see the dome forming around us. It's so beautiful, with so many colours, not just gold- because we're not assholes," he added as an aside. "It really is an experience. You just wait, Miyuki Kazuya. You won't regret us anymore."

The amount emotion Sawamura was suddenly projecting towards him, was uncomfortable. "Quit using my full name," the catcher deflected, walking around the circle to stretch his legs. Miyuki didn't have the heart to remind him he wasn't joining his clan.

Once settled, they released their wings. Miyuki sighed, enjoying the feeling of the cold air caressing them. He'd been hiding them indoors this entire time, and the nights air was more than a little refreshing.

Beside him, Sawamura was having a similar reaction. "Alight," he said, flapping them a few times. He had that stupid relaxed smile across his face. "Man, that feels good. Guess they really needed a good stretch."

Miyuki snickered. "What ever deity decided to stick butterfly wings on human bodies was an idiot."

Sawamura gasped, taking personal offence.

"Come on," Miyuki laughed. "I can't turn my back more than an inch without knocking 5 things over, hitting a post, or blowing papers everywhere."

Sawamura's face scrunched up. He knew he couldn't deny it. "The human world was not built for us," instead he proclaimed.

Not wanting to start another argument, Miyuki gestured to the set of brushes. "You better get on with it. I don't want to be out all night."

"Right." Sawamura quickly went to work setting out a tarp. Guess fairies could be practical about some things. He'd half expected some sort of magic glowing net or catcher. Sawamura held up the brush and gestured for him to run his hand over it. "The brush is made from Willow-whay. You only find it in the sidhe mounds, so don't lose it. You can't just used any old brush or you'll end up with wing rash, and trust me, it's not pleasant. You'll be itchy all day and unable to do anything if you're in class and it's just a nightmare. So don't lose it."

There was a story there, but he chose not to push. They really did need to keep this short. After that, Sawamura began work on his wings, all the while explaining what he was doing, how to use proper strokes, which areas to do first and last, where you needed to be extra careful, etcetera, etcetera. Really, he suspected Sawamura was just making it sound more complicated than it was so he had more of a chance to tell Miyuki what to do.

Over all though, the feeling was pleasant. Like any basic hygiene routine, you just felt better afterwards. Refreshed. He wanted to give his wings a good flap, but suspected that would scatter the dust they'd just gathered. He hadn't had the chance to find out exactly what would happen if he tried flying. Sawamura said baby wings can't hold them, but could you like, float a bit?

Eventually he was finished and it was Miyuki's turn to brush Sawamura's wings. It was an easy enough task so yes, Sawamura had been over explaining it. They'd already bundled up Miyuki's dust into a small pouch; there wasn't too much, but Miyuki had thought it looked a decent haul all things considered. Now, however, perhaps his ignorance was showing. The amount of dust that fell from every stroke Miyuki made, quickly covered the tarp in a golden sheen.

"Gees, Sawamura, this is ridiculous. Are you sure you've been keeping up with your shedding?"

The boy bristtled. "I have but it's impossible to get it all off on your own. I do maybe dust a bit more than average... but after a few months, you'll be dusting a lot more too!"

"How do you do it on your own?"

"Here, I'll show you." Miyuki backed away to give his wings space. He started shaking his wings so fast they were practically vibrating, then smacking them together and and continued for a minute. "Like that, but for like half an hour. It's really tiring and makes your shoulders super sore, so you can understand why I hate it. I avoided doing it during tournaments."

Right, because they were fairies, fairies that also played baseball. Miyuki smirked to himself. It really did seem like an arduous process. "So, what you're saying, is that between us, I'm doing you the bigger favour. Maybe I should start charging."

The look of shock on Sawamura's face was priceless, Miyuki couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't you even dare! You need dusting too," the boy fumed.

"But not as much as you.

"That doesn't matter!"

"Will you keep your voice down?" Miyuki admonished easily. "Besides, I bet I could put off dusting far longer than you. Wonder how long I could go before people start to notice."

"The last thing the world needs is for you to sparkle on top of being so-" But the boy cut himself off abruptly, and huffed instead, turning away.

Miyuki grinned, leaning in. "Oh ho, what was that now?"

Sawamura sputtered, backing away from their sudden close proximity, before finding his words. "On top of having such a horrible personality! I was trying to be nice, you shitty senpai."

"Haha, don't hold back now, it's not like you." Miyuki continued to shake his head. That wasn't what he was going to say, but he figured he give him a bit of mercy.

The boy grumbled under his breath what was very likely a string of fey expletives, as he knelt to start on gathering the dust. He'd been doing that a lot lately, using more and more fey language around him, always with the excuse, _'well you better learn it if you want to know what I'm saying'_. Sawamura's passive aggressive methods for getting him to study the language really weren't working. As if Miyuki didn't have enough on his plate as it was. He certainly didn't have time to learn a whole new language on top of that.

"Dust is valuable. Not just to fairies, either, since it's magic is so potent. If you're ever in a pinch, you can use it to barter," Sawamura started to explain as he sifted his dust into a pouch. "Not in it's raw form, of course. _Never_ give it away raw, unless it's to another fey. You have to refine it for others to use in spell crafting."

"Refine?" Miyuki asked. It was hard to keep track of all this. Like with the language, Sawamura would keep explaining different things about their culture or people of the Haven, little by little, whenever he could. Honestly, it was all starting to blur together at times, at other, he really felt like he got it, like he was a part of it.

Those times when he, Kuramochi, and Sawamura were all together; they were, nice. He supposed, if he had to pick a best friend, he'd say it was Kuramochi, but there was still a distance there. He'd pick him, but when he saw others with their inseparable BFF's, he knew that would never be him. And he was alright with that. He had baseball, and that was all he ever wanted or needed. _This_ , this was new. This part of being a fey, it didn't seem so bad.

"Mmm. It's a liquid form," Sawamura continued on. "You'll need soul honey, cleansing water, and spun gold, and a few days for it to set, but it's handy just in case."

Miyuki snorted. "And I'm supposed to have all that in a pinch? Let me just get out my _spun gold_ for you."

"It's spider spun," he sighed, as though he were speaking to someone slow. "Orb spinners will always share with us."

That was rich. Sawamura was hardly in any position to speak down to anyone. "Well excuse me for not knowing you were referring to spiders and orb spinners. I'm kind of new to this."

Sawamura shifted, having the grace to look abashed. "I-"

The howl of a wolf in the distance distracted them both. The boy's eyes instantly lit up, looking out towards the fields.

Miyuki wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a large black shape running across the farthest parts of the field, playfully leaping from time to time. "Is that-"

"Kuramochi," Sawamura affirmed and then whined, "I really wish he would come over here. He's seen us. It's not fair."

"I'm sure he has his reasons."

Sawamura pouted, picking at the grass. Miyuki continued to trace the path of the black beast in the distance. He wondered if Kuramochi was always so bold as to run in view of the school, even if it was so late. He'd never heard him howl before, but then, that could have been done for their benefit. The thought left him with a wry smile. How long before the rumours of the beast of Seidou began? Some poor soul, out on a washroom break, just having to see a dark shape...

"Here, hold out your hand."

Miyuki startled at Sawamura's sudden request, having left all his focus on the field. The boy got up and was holding something out to him. Miyuki's eyes narrowed, but did as he was asked.

That had been a mistake.

As soon as his hand was out, Sawamura tried to drop some sort of bug into his outstretched palm. "What the- No! What the hell?" Miyuki exclaimed, backing off and unable to hide a shudder.

Sawamura's brow pinched. "It's just a beetle."

"So what? I'm not holding a bug." Why did he want him to hold a bug. Gross. He was not into that.

"Why not?"

"Why would I? Arn't we supposed to be dusting?" Miyuki shifted his gaze away. He did not like bugs.

"Come on. Just trust me on this." Sawamura gave him his best imploring smile. Why was he being so insistent on this? His stupid eyes were sparkling again too. So annoying. "It's just a bug. I'm going to show you something. You'll like it, I promise."

"If it involves me having to hold bugs, I very much doubt that."

"Stop being a wuss and hold out your hand. He's not going to do anything."

After a small internal battle, Miyuki decided it was best to give in than fight him on this. The boy could be as stubborn as a mule, and it didn't look like he was likely to relent anytime soon. "I swear, if it pees or excretes on me, I'm wiping it on you."

Sawamura rolled his eyes, placing the bug on his upturned palm. Surprisingly, the bug kept still. Miyuki had figured it was scurry creepily all over his hand.

"Okay, now take a pinch of your dust and sprinkle it on him."

Miyuki looked up sharply. _What was this?_ Sawamura held out his pouch of dust, nodding his head. _Okay_ , Miyuki thought, he had said he wanted to show him something. He pinched the powder and did as he was told, still amazed that the bug was just sitting there. And not peeing on him.

"Now repeat this while thinking ' _light my way_ '," Sawamura instructed. He recited a short incantation in fey and gave him an encouraging smile. "It's a spell, trust me, it's cool."

If he was being honest, Miyuki's curiosity was beginning to peak. Just what was going on here? But after he recited the words, there was a slight red glow to the bug. Miyuki blinked a few times, just to be sure he wasn't seeing things. He caught Sawamura's eye, who was grinning like an idiot. _Well shit_ , Miyuki thought. That actually was kind of cool.

"Alright, now blow him off. Like this," the boy went on, bringing his attention back. He was then taken aback when Sawmura drew his hand to his face and essentially blew him a kiss, but without the kiss. Pretty much right in his face, too.

Miyuki crinkled his nose. "Seriously Sawamura, did you remember to brush your teeth before bed?"

"Of course I did!" Sawamura flushed and scowled. "Will you just do it."

Miyuki chuckled but did as he was told, tilting his hand up and giving a good blow- _away_ from Sawamura's face- to dislodge the pest. The bug flew off, glowing much brighter now, and circled them a few times. Miyuki watched with eyes filled with awe as it buzzed around their circle, occasionally lending on one of them but taking off again. It was a soft glow, but far brighter than any firefly. It really could illuminate a dark space.

"Congratulations. You cast your first fairy lights," Sawamura announced, still smiling stupidly. He walked over to the edge of the circle and mumbled something, cutting across it with his foot.

Instantly the bug started flying further and further out, but didn't actually leave them. It was just doing it's own thing, he supposed. _That_ \- was _that_ his? He did that?

"You can control them too," Sawamura said. Miyuki looked over to see him blow another bug off his own hand. This one glowed gold and flew off to join the red one, both dancing together in the sky.

 _Two fallen stars..._

 _Incredible_.

Sawamura clicked his tongue a few times and made some finger hand signs. The two bugs returned to his out stretched hand.

"How... I did that." It was a statement, because he knew, he knew it was him, his _magic_... He still was having trouble processing it. Wings were one thing, but this?

Sawamura waved off the bugs. "That was purely your magic, Miyuki-senpai. This is what it means to be a caster." Miyuki jolted when he felt Sawamura's hand on his shoulder. "The world is full of predators, but we'll have something they can never understand. They can't speak to the earth the way we can. The way you can. It's not all always about the constant hiding, or clan politics, or waring families. There's the good parts too. There's song, and dance, and magic. We'll fly amongst them too. Just like those bugs."

Miyuki swallowed, feeling his face heat up. It was too weird seeing Sawamura so, well devoted? Enthralled? Captivated? _So_ \- what was the word?

The boy smiled at him, a smile that was both indulgent and sympathetic, like he knew this was too much for him. Miyuki felt his chest tighten to the point where he had to look away. He wasn't sure if he could deal with this new side to Sawamura's character.

Looking out over the field, the black shadow caught his attention again. "Hey," he said, breaking the moment of silence. "Can we send them after Mochi?"

Sawamura's eyes sparked and he nodded. The two laughed as they spent the next ten minutes watching both red and gold lights chase around the large wolf who jumped and snapped at them. Mochi would come around, Miyuki knew. They would whittle him down.


	3. Chapter 3

Two AM really wasn't the time to be going out to the vending machines for a can of coffee. He should go back to bed, try to sleep, maybe read a book if he couldn't. Coffee really wasn't the solution. Why would anyone even willingly go out in this weather at night? December had started and it was freezing. He was regretting not taking his coat rather than just pulling on a hoodie, since the walk wasn't that far, right? What was he even doing out here anyways? Why did he need a coffee int he middle of the night when he should be sleeping and it was freezing outside?

A noise further down the alley drew his attention. With the can in hand, he wandered down closer to the practice fields. He paused to listen, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something about the area felt wrong. He probably shouldn't be there. He needed to go back to bed, and this feeling of dread slowly creeping in the base of his stomach was only making his heart beat faster. Something wasn't right. Everything seemed fine but he knew for sure that something was most definitely wrong with where he was.

He made one last effort, straining his eyes to peer out into the open black fields, but not taking another step towards them. He then turned his back to them, willing himself to return to bed, move back towards the light of the vending machines and dorms.

He should probably run.

Miyuki stopped and looked over his shoulder towards the open blackness. The overcast sky blocked almost all star and moonlight. He started walking again towards the fields. Something was there, he couldn't see it, but he knew it needed to be found. He had just about reached the grass of B Grounds outfield before he stopped. Was there something there? Why had he come out here?

This definitely was not right.

Forcing himself to not give any sign of warning, Miyuki twisted on foot and began to sprint full speed back towards the dorms, dropping his coffee in his wake. This was not right, this was definitely not right. He needed to get out of there now.

He was thrown from his feet just as he was almost to the indoor training ground. A cry left his lips at the sudden impact and he fell hard against the pavement of the path, his shoulder taking the majority of his weight in the fall.

Only a bruise, was his first thought as he pushed himself up but as soon as it came, reality hit; baseball was the least of his concerns. Before him stood, something, that was distinctly female, but he couldn't say what. Thin lips smirked in a crooked smile as it took a flowing step towards him, holding out a faintly glowing hand.

Miyuki stared wide eyed, feeling a cold fear spread through his very bones. This was not good. This thing, what ever it was, was definitely something he did not want to come into contact with. It was, bad. Everything in him told him it was bad. Danger.

"Fine night," she- it said. He could feel himself shaking.

Move.

Miyuki jolted into motion. I need to get to the dorms. Just get to the dorms. He was struck in the face before he made it two meters.

He hadn't even seen her move! That wasn't possible. Still smirking, she lifted him by his sweater and threw him back the two meters he'd made. He scrambled on to his feet. This was way out of his depth. This was someone from the Haven, someone who knew what he was. Pride be damned, he opened his mouth to scream for help.

Only the beginning of a syllable escaped before his throat tightened and he choked on his own voice. She'd spoken a word, made a hand gesture. What the hell? What was that thing? What did she do to him? What did she want? How could he get away?

He tried to speak, but could only cough. Every effort choked his breath and left him wheezing. Sawamura, his mind suddenly screamed, he needed Sawamura. But could he actually help, or would he just get himself hurt? His hand reached to his neck and harshly yanked lose the small amulet he wore to supress his magic. Maybe someone would notice. Someone had to notice.

"Miyuki Kazuya, correct?" she said, still smiling as though she held a private joke; a private joke that he was sure involved forcing him into submission.

He opened his mouth to throw a curse at her but only coughed for his efforts. He managed a snarl instead. If she thought he was easy prey, she had another thing coming.

"Miyuki Kazuya, bastard halfbreed abomination and now exiled former son of the unseelie fall court." Her lips curled to bare long pointed teeth. "An unclaimed exile, all alone, with no means to protect their self. So lucky that I found you first."

His hands clenched at his side. No means? It wasn't like he'd spent his days laying around. If he could find something to swing, she'd learn a thing or two about strength.

"You know, they didn't expect you to last this long. Halfbreeds you know, have a nasty habit of dying in their crib. They're not meant to be. Gross genetic mistakes mother nature has trouble snuffing out in time."

He gave her his best condescending smile, and flipped her off since he couldn't tell her exactly where she could stick it.

"How about we make a deal. You're clearly no match for me, or any other hunter who may search you out. We can make a trade."

Like hell was he trusting anything coming out of her mouth.

"Give me your wings, and I'll let you go."

He frowned, taken aback.

"Once gone, you'll turn back to human. Wouldn't you like that? I can cut them off, quick and painless. A simple healing spell and you can return to your original mundane existence. This could all just be a bad dream."

If I could cut off these wings, I would try.

Don't even joke about that. It would kill you.

The bitch was lying through her teeth. How many others had she used that line on? Kids who didn't have others to help them learn, and only wanted their peaceful lives back? His stomach twisted in disgust. She was evil.

"Of course you can't answer me. Here, I'll remove the spell, but start shouting and cutting out your tongue will be the first thing I do."

She made a hand gesture, and the feeling of a collar being cut loose fell from his throat. Miyuki swallowed, not taking his eyes off her. He couldn't just rely on help to come. He needed to do something more to gain attention.

"Well," she prompted, tilting her head to the side. "Just release your wings and we can make this quick. They're very valuable. More so than your worthless life. Your other option, of course, is to just let me kill you. It's what your family wants, after all. Your very existence is an insult. You'll never be accepted as one of us."

Accepted? Miyuki laughed. The first sound to leave his throat was a harsh guttural laugh. Accepted? Since when the fuck did he ever care about that? This bitch really thought he was stupid, didn't she?

"How about," he began, his eyes crinkled in mirth, "You go fuck yourself instead?" If he tried running, she was too fast. The only way he really knew how to purposely spike his own magic was by releasing his wings, something he sure as hell wasn't going to do now. He could try to get her to use more magic, but wasn't it likely she was suppressing her own presence? But then, something had pulled him there. Was it only him that felt it?

Her smile never faltered but her eyes took on a harsher stare. "We could have done this easily. I suppose I'll just rip them from your back myself."

And then she sprang.

Miyuki was ready. He was able to dodge another punch aimed for his face, only for a harsh kick to take him in the gut. He stumbled back a few steps when a backhand sent his glasses flying. He swung his fist, but it was caught, his body twisted around, pulling his arm painfully and then thrown hard into the wall of the indoor grounds. Miyuki's face hit the concrete, his forehead struck hard and his cheek scraped the surface.

Shit, shit, shit. He pushed himself away from the surface, but she slammed him back in to place, one arm pinning him down. A hand wrenched his head back, ripping at his hair.

"Release your wings, Kazuya," she whispered. He struggled against her grip. He had to fight. He needed to fight. Miyuki's heart raced in his chest. Her hot breath against his cheek made him sick. But all the while a cold, very real fear was beginning bloom. What if he couldn't win?

"Release them," she again said, letting go of his head to run her hand lightly down his back. He shivered in disgust. "And all this could be over."

Miyuki turned his head and spat in her face. He didn't allow himself the chance to enjoy her outrage, and head-butted her as hard as he could in their awkward position. The woman cursed in a strange language, but didn't lose her footing or grip on him. He struggled with all his might and to his surprise, she let go. A searing pain sliced down his back. Miyuki screamed, ready to fall to his knees. The creature grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her. She grabbed the front of his shirt, laughing.

She was laughing, it was laughing. Her eyes sparkled, drinking in the sight of him. Miyuki's breath came out in quick gasps, feeling the cold air hit his exposed skin. She'd cut right through the fabric, the hand gripping against his chest was sticky with blood. His blood. She yanked forward, pulling the hoodie with it.

Get away, get away, I have to get away.

He tried to grapple with her, but she tugged and twisted, while he cried out at how his back burned with every move. Eventually the hoodie was off and his ruined shirt was barely still attached. He sprinted, ignoring the pain, when claws ripped into his skin, tearing across his shoulders and down his back. This time he did fall, screaming out. It was like being mauled by a bear.

Panic gripped him. Run, he had to run. He had to run because he was going to die. She was going to kill him. Right here, in Seido, so close to his friends and safety, he was actually going to die. Blood was flowing down his back; it was no light scratch she gave him. He scrambled to his knees only to be kicked back down again. A foot stomped down on his ankle, causing him to cry out as a new area burst into pain.

She laughed. "Release your wings, or I'll dig them from your back myself, one strip of flesh at time, slowly, digging my claws in, inch by inch until you bleed out."

There was something about being just so exposed that made one feel so much more vulnerable. The freezing ground was actually a relief against his skin while his back felt on fire. He needed to keep fighting. He had to. He wasn't even sure if he could walk anymore.

I have to find Sawamura.

Warn him.

And apologize.

A knee dug into his lower back.

Apologize for not being strong enough.

Fingers threaded through his hair.

Apologize for not seeing this through.

His head was yanked back.

For not seeing him make Ace.

A cold knife rested against his throat.

His dad was going to be so distraught.

Blood trickled from his neck.

He hoped they would leave a body.

"One last chance, halfbreed. I don't need to kill you. Could always take you to the breeders instead. What they do to halfbloods like you... Release your wings now because they certainly won't give you the luxury of something as easy as dying."

"Get away from him!"

The shout startles them both. He looked over in time to see a blinding light and felt the body above him, shoved away. He twisted in time to see Sawamura standing between him and the woman, thrusting his hand out as a ball of light encased her.

Sawamura. It was Sawamura. Was he saved? He opened his mouth to call out but the boy beat him to it.

"Run! I can't hold her off for long!" He didn't even turn his head and his voice sounded panicked.

Miyuki had to clench his teeth as he forced himself to stand. His back protested with every movement and his clothing were growing damp from blood. He tried to put weight on his ankle. The sting nearly brought tears to his eyes, it might even be broken. Whatever, he could force it.

"But what about you?" he asked. Like hell was he going to leave Sawamura behind just to save his own hide.

"She's not after me. Go! Find Kuramochi. Hurry!"

The ball of light surrounding her cracked and shattered. Miyuki made to run but the woman said something in a strange language and he found himself once again with his face in the asphalt. She wasn't going to let him leave. Not willingly, anyways.

"He's mine," she stated calmly. "Do not get between a hunter and their prey."

"He's not," Sawamura snarled back. "This is a school! You can't be here."

Vaguely Miyuki remembered Sawamura saying something about he should be safe at school.

The woman snorted. "That's the school." She pointed a clawed, glowing finger to a building in the distance. "This, is just a path, and that's a field, and these are basically apartments." She gestured to the space surrounding them.

"You can't do that!" he shouted.

"You'll find I can."

Sawamura grit his teeth. "My name is Sawamura Eijun, and the halfling, Miyuki Kazuya, is under my protection."

The woman laughed, crossing her arms over her chest to prove just how threatened she felt. "Your protection? Leave while you can, child. By law, if you interfere, I can subdue you as I see fit. And two sets of wings are far more valuable than one. You can protect no one."

"Miyuki, you really need to get out of here now," he muttered, not turning his head.

"I'd love to," he bit out. "She's not exactly letting me."

At that, Sawamura glanced back, finally taking a good look at him. His eyes went wide in horror and shock.

And then they started to glow.

"Last chance, little one. Oh," she paused, and then shook her head in bemusement. "Are you calling your power? You're actually going to face me? How cute. Fine, two sets of wings it is."

"Oh, I've got wings for you," Sawamura hissed out. Two beams of golden light shot from his back, fading to reveal bright golden and yellow wings. This is what he meant when said that you could learn to control the release of your wings, that they could be sharp enough to slice through your fabric like butter when they unfurled. And they were glowing. That was new. It was almost like he could taste the magic just crackling within them.

Miyuki stood, hoping that if he didn't move too much, or two quickly, she'd forget about casting what ever it was she did to keep him there. He stepped back- hobbled really- and to the side a bit. The last thing he wanted was to get in the way. He knew there was little he could do to help the boy now. He only hoped Sawamura knew what he was doing. Damn it, why didn't he bring his phone? He hated being useless.

It was then he noticed it wasn't just Sawamura's eyes and wings that were glowing. His fingernails too. And his ears had a slight point to them. Sawamura's lips moved quickly, speaking, or singing rather, the fey language. He clapped his hands together and when he pulled them apart, a golden light shone between them. The creature was watching him curiously. Evaluating, it seemed. The light faded, and Sawamura's left hand formed a fist, grasping the hilt of a short sword.

What the actual fuck, Miyuki thought, wrapping his arms around his middle in an attempt to keep warm. Did he fall into a fantasy light novel or something? He was shivering badly and really wished he hadn't lost his glasses. Fortunately his sight wasn't completely useless, but details were lost to him. How did the world not know about this, if there were creatures breaking out into fights using wings and magic swords and beams of light and who knows what more?

It laughed. "Am I supposed to be frightened? Or impressed? I'm a hunter, boy. I've taken down far worse than an underaged, spell-weaving fairy. But those wings, very impressive. Should fetch a pretty price for those."

"You really should have done your homework on who exactly attended this school," Sawamura called out. "We're not the only ones from the Haven here. And considering your target is Fey, did you really think you could get away with this?"

"No one cares about a disgusting halfbreed. You do your tribe shame by interfering, boy."

"I told you, my name is Sawamura Eijun." Miyuki had never heard him sound like that, with a burning cold anger. Usually when Sawamura was upset, he was loud, and active. He'd be shaking in rage, or cursing and stomping. This calm from him was something new entirely. Sawamura was pissed. "And if you'd done a fraction of research, you'd have already figured out that I have claim on him."

"No one has claim on him, he was officially exiled today. First hunter to the prize wins and I'm never one to wait. This is your last chance brat."

Sawamura smiled bitterly. "Then let's make this official then." He looked to the side to lock eyes with Miyuki. "Sorry, I really wanted to get your permission first, but we have no choice now."

"It's okay," he replied, not knowing what it was he'd just agreed to. Really, he was barely understanding what was going on. Were they fighting or debating? Was she trying to get him to back off so she wouldn't have to fight him, or was she just so confident that it didn't matter how much talking they did, it would make no difference in the end.

"Here we go," he mumbled, turning his attention back to the hunter, before raising his voice. "I, Sawamura Eijun, eastern Demi-Prince to the Seelie Summer Court, anointed humble servant to her royal highness, the great Queen Eilena of the Sidhe, and member of the High Imperial Sidhe Court, here by claim the halfling exile, Miyuki Kazuya, former son of the Unseelie Fall Court to my clan, my tribe, my court, and grant him all familiar privileges. Henceforth he is Miyuki Kazuya, noble claimed son of Seelie Summer Court and welcomed member of the nobility."

Miyuki didn't think it was possible for his eyebrows to raise any higher. He blinked repeatedly, trying to gauge the response from the woman across from them, with his poor eyesight. He didn't understand almost any of what Sawamura just recited, but the word prince obstinately rang out, loud and clear. Damn Kuramochi, he wasn't right, but he wasn't wrong either. Miyuki bit back a smile. How oddly fitting. Sawamura really never would cease to surprise him.

"Witnessed."

All heads jerked. That hadn't come from any of them. Sawamura's smile grew. Someone else was here; watching. If this hunter was breaking rules...

"Leave now," Sawamura called out. "And I'll forget everything that's happened here. Everything you said."

The hunter, who'd been standing oddly still, calculating her next move, flinched.

"Shit," Sawamura mumbled. Miyuki had no idea what was going on. "When she attacks, run. I'll hold her off."

"What?" She was going to-

Without warning, the hunter sprung. Sawamura did the same, meeting her head on, but instead of striking with his sword, he waved his free hand and a power deflected her strike. It didn't stop her onslaught though, and Sawamura was forced to bring up the sword to parry her next blow.

"Run!" he shouted. There was light, and movement, and magic. What the hell was happening.

Miyuki's ankle throbbed. It was fractured at the least. He tried to hobble away, to do what he was told; he couldn't help here and that thought tore at his insides, but he refused to be a liability. He only made a couple steps before his foot gave out under him. What the hell. What the hell was happening? Wasn't there someone else watching? Why weren't they helping? Wasn't there rules? Wasn't Sawamura royalty? Didn't that mean something?

He looked back at them. The hunter was grinning with sharp fangs as she bared down on the boy. She was over powering him, only his quicker magic was keeping her back between onslaughts. He was losing.

No! Miyuki thought, mind turning over in panic. No! She couldn't, she was going to win. He couldn't let her. This couldn't happen! He wouldn't be a liability, but he also refused to be a by stander if there was something he could do.

He yelled, releasing his wings from his tattered, bloody back. A wave of his magic could be felt by all. It was enough of a distraction for Sawamura to regain himself. His wings seemed glow brighter, the shimmering gold and orange which reminded him of the warm sun, now shone like a blazing fire.

It was amazing to watch. Sawamura could retract and release his wings so fast, using them so that he was almost flying, springing forward, then retracting them out of harms way, to manoeuvre around her. This kid...

Miyuki tried to use his wings to regain his footing, but his balance was all off. Sawamura was now clutching his side. Even without his glasses, Miyuki could see the bright glow of his eyes. How had it come to this? A loud growl to his left caused his head to turn. Miyuki gasped and scrambled back, seeing a large grey wolf, baring its vicious teeth. What the hell was this! It's eyes were locked on the hunter, paying Miyuki no mind, but the boy still felt his heart leap to his throat.

All at once, the wolf leapt past him, bounding for the hunter. The woman cursed and attempted to fend him off. The sound of the great beast snarling and snapping, sent a chill down his spine. What-

Kuramochi.

It finally dawned on him. This was his wolf form up close. With the two of them, the hunter began to have difficulty keeping up. At one point the wolf, Kuramochi, was on her back. The woman screamed out and flung him away, he bound back in, unperturbed but Miyuki noticed his snout was dripping red. Miyuki swallowed down the sudden feeling of sickness in his throat. This was all because of him...

Unease overcame him. A deep feeling of darkness and warning. It took him a moment to realise that it wasn't his own emotions, something was coming. And he could sense it. There was a pressure in the air, ominous and threatening. Magic.

"I warned you," Sawamura snarled at her. "This is a school." He barked a single laugh. "I guess the others have come to play."

The woman paused with a sneer, "Tell that abomination to prepare for it's fate," before turning to run. Kuramochi charged after with a deep growl.

Sawamura quickly dashed back to where Miyuki was sitting. "It's alright, I've got you," he said, taking Miyuki in his arms and slowly helping him up to his feet. "Can you retract your wings? We've got to get you back to the dorms."

Miyuki hissed, bringing them back within himself. He was never going to get used to that sensation. "My ankle. I think it's broken."

Sawamura pulled Miyuki's arm around his shoulder and placed his own around his waist. "Come on, we need to get going."

"What about Kuramochi," Miyuki asked, having to give almost all his weight to Sawamura as he limped along.

"He'll be fine. Probably just making sure she's well off the property and not coming back. I'm more worried about who ever else showed up. Not sure you can really trust someone who just shows up just to watch."

His adrenaline was finally leaving, and the cold made him shiver. Sawamura was warm beside him, but he could tell he was low on energy. As they walked, Miyuki took the chance to look at his face. He couldn't see it clearly before, without his glasses, but he was close enough now. His ears really were pointed, and his pupils had formed cat like slits. They still glowed brightly against the dark. And when Sawamura spoke, he noticed his teeth too were different, he had fangs now. They were small, but definitely noticeable from this distance. He really wasn't human. Actually, Miyuki looked to where his hand gripped his waist, his nails had a very slight glow and had grown to a point.

He'd have to cut those.

Miyuki laughed at the sudden baseball related thought. How typical. After everything, that was where his concern lay. They managed to get back to the room and stumble through the door without incident. Miyuki went for the chair and collapsed onto it, sitting backwards and leaning it into the desk. Sawamura dropped to his knees and pulled out his duffle bag of supplies from beneath his bed. Yeah, he thought with a laugh, that really was a piss poor hiding spot.

Sawamura pulled out his stash of amulets and spread then on the ground. He frowned, sorting through them with one hand and clutching his side with the other. Eventually, he'd found the three he was looking for. He opened the small ornate box he'd been using to store his fairy dust, along with a some of Miyuki's. It was only practical that the one who actually knew how to use the stuff, held on to it. Sawamura dipped two amulets in Miyuki's dust and one in his own.

"Here," the boy said, handing them over after kissing all three. It wasn't necessary, Sawamura had said, but it helped to kick start them.

His hand still hadn't left his side.

"Are you alright," Miyuki asked with narrowed eyes as he placed the two amulets around his neck. One dampened his magic- the one he'd torn off earlier -the other he could tell as soon as it sat around his neck, was for pain. The throbbing pain of his ankle significantly diminished and his back numbed. But now with the pain no longer fogging his brain, he became all the more aware of other strange effects happening within his body. His joints were stiffening, his heart pounding, and a pressure behind his eyes.

"Haha, fine. You're a bigger concern," Sawamura told him, glancing up to give him a forced smile as he fished out what looked like a fine necklace case with his free hand. He snapped the lid open to review a row of carefully labeled vials. He pulled one with a lions head moulded onto it's stopper, and handed it to him. "Drink this."

Miyuki pulled the stopper and did as he was told. He was more than a little concerned that Sawamura was feeding him what looked like an extremely valuable, or significant potion. He was about to ask directly about his side, when scratching at the door startled them both.

Had she come back?

"Kuramochi," Sawamura mumbled, getting up to open the door.

Kuramochi, of course. Miyuki let out a breath he hadn't know he'd be holding. Had the thought of her return, really startled him that much? The relief was short lived though, when a grey wolf, standing taller than his waist, and with red smeared across its muzzle, trotted over to him. Kuramochi, Miyuki told himself, it was just Kuramochi. Seriously, this whole ordeal was going to give him a complex.

The wolf opened his mouth and a pair of black frames dropped to the floor in front of him. Miyuki grimaced, realizing those were his glasses, now covered in wolf saliva. He gingerly plucked them from the floor, and fished out a wet wipe from the desk drawer. Since his wings came in, they made a habit of keeping jugs of water and paper supplies on hand. Good thing too, considering the amount of cleaning they were going to have to do this night.

As he slowly wiped the glasses clean, Kuramochi found himself the corner between the bed and the wall, and transformed. Both Miyuki and Sawamura stopped what they were doing to stare. The wolf's fur stretched and pulled unnaturally. It's entire body contorted in what had to be painful ways as fur gave way to skin and finally a very naked Kuramochi lay on the floor. It was both horrifying and fascinating to watch.

After a low groan, the shortstop shook himself, and eased into a standing position. Miyuki snapped his eyes away. His naked friend was really not something he wanted to be ogling.

He heard a quiet 'thanks', as Sawamura handed over sweats and a t-shirt before returning to his potions. Miyuki finished cleaning his glasses and returned them to his face.

Kuramochi had just finished pulling his shirt over his head when their eyes met. There was still blood on his face, smearing across his mouth. The shortstop scowled fiercely. "Not a word."

Miyuki grinned like the smarmy bastard he was. "Erm, you've got a little something on your noes."

Kuramochi narrowed his eyes and stomped over to the rooms mirror. "Fuck," he hissed. Miyuki handed over the wet naps. Kuramochi tore them from his hands, letting the full brunt of his anger be known, and furiously wiped at his face. "Now will you god damn listen to us? Fuck, I can't believe they came to a school."

Miyuki was a little taken aback by the vehemence in his voice, but he supposed he deserved it. This was, after all, all his fault. Had he agreed to let Sawamura claim him earlier...

"Well apparently that's the school," Miyuki gestured in the main buildings directions. "These are just apartments, and that's a field." He pointed towards the door.

"You're shitting me," Kuramochi deadpanned. Miyuki shrugged. "Good thing there's a lot of us here. Any idea who it was that showed up? Took em long enough to intervene."

"Who ever they were, they were strong," Sawamura injected softly. "Their magic, it felt dark."

Miyuki frowned. He sounded off; out of breath. Something was wrong.

"Sawamura are you okay?" Kuramochi asked, kneeling down across from his supplies. He'd picked up on it too.

Sawamura looked up with glassy eyes and gave them a weak smile. "Heh, actually, you better call Wakana."

"Wha..."

"Face time her. I've got everything out for you." He gestured to the piles he'd set up before him. "She can walk you through it." He laid down on his back. "I can't-" he panted. "I can't..."

Sawamura's hand came away from his side, stained in red.

"Shit, Sawamura!" Kuramochi sprung into action, pushing his shirt up, revealing a deep gash with a light golden glow over it.

Miyuki slid from the chair to join them on the floor. It was hard to manoeuvre with his ankle, and his joints feeling more and more like rusted hinges. A dizzy spell hit him, but he shook his head, and when did he start sweating? But damn it, Sawamura was being an idiot again. Why hadn't he told them he was injured? Miyuki was sure that what ever magic he had on the wound was the only thing keeping the boy from bleeding out.

"Call Wakana!" Miyuki shouted when Kuramochi remained stunned. It was enough to shake him back, and he went rummaging for his phone. Miyuki grabbed a towel and water, and dabbed at the wound, not really sure what he should be doing.

"Miyuki-senpai, take my hand." Oh, thank god, he was still awake. Sawamura was looking at him, his face pinched in pain, but holding out his hand.

"What?" He wasn't dying, right? He couldn't be. Sawamura wasn't that stupid.

The boy rolled his eyes when Miyuki hesitated and reached over himself, grasping him tightly. "What ever happens, don't let go, okay?" he told him.

Miyuki's eyes widened. This wasn't like, a final request, right? His chest constricted unforgivingly. He squeezed the other boys hand in his. This was not happening. It couldn't. Sawamura closed his eyes, leaning back on the ground and panted.

"Sawamura, what's happening?" Miyuki asked in a half panic. He could hear Kuramochi talking fast on the phone in the background, but couldn't pay enough attention to make out what he was saying.

"Poison," the boy answered easily enough. "Don't let go. Just, hold on."

And then Kuramochi was kneeling again, holding the phone over the scene of supplies. He was face timing Wakana. "What the actual fuck, Sawamura," he said, sifting through the supplies. "I'm seriously kicking your ass once you get through this." He put the phone back to his ear, listening, and then started picking through everything once more. "I'm looking for a vial. It should have a lion stopper."

Miyuki felt his skin run cold. Sawamura had given it to him to drink. What had he done? "This one?" he said, holding up the now empty vial.

"Yes!"

"I drank it. He gave it to me." He squeezed the boy's hand once more. Why was he such a selfless idiot?

Kuramochi rolled his eyes. "Of course he did." And went back to talking on the phone. "It's okay. That was just a temporary fix, I need to make an antidote either way," he said noticing Miyuki's growing agitation.

The catcher breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, so he hadn't just killed him. And the way Kuramochi was acting, nodding on the phone, and concentrating at putting things together from what Sawamura left out, things couldn't be dire. The shortstop wasn't panicking, so he shouldn't either.

Miyuki watched as the boy's face scrunched up every so often. His breathing was heavy and there was a sheen of sweat on his brow. Miyuki brushed his bangs aside to feel the heat radiating off his forehead. He was completely out cold. There was nothing he could do now. Kuramochi was doing his best following Wakana's instructions. He just had to stay out of the way- again. He was useless, and he hated it. There had to be something? Sawamura groaned, his face twisting in a grimace.

Only one amulet sat at his neck. He was in pain, but they'd only had one pain amulet left. Miyuki swiftly removed the pendant from himself and gasped when a wave of pain flowed over him. He grit his teeth and took a deep breath through his noes. He could do this. It was only a broken ankle and clawed up back. Sawamura was practically dying, he could do this.

He took Sawamura's box of dust and dipped the pendant in it, hoping it wouldn't matter that his was on it too. He could do this, he'd watched Sawamura do this twice before and it was no different from the suppressant amulets except that it required the specific dust of the fairy wearing it. Miyuki brought it to his lips and gave it a quick kiss, hoping it would have the same effect as Sawamura, but what did he know, he was just some ignorant halfbreed.

He couldn't think of that right now, he needed to help the boy who's hand griped his as tightly as when he was awake. Miyuki carefully draped the amulet around his neck, placing it so the pendant sat right above his heart. He watched, hoping for some sign that it worked. Sawamura's face slowly relaxed into sleep, his breath becoming slightly less laboured. Miyuki wasn't sure how much it helped, but it was something. He'd done something at least.

Only a few more minutes past before Kuramochi piped up. "Miyuki, you're going to have to say the incantation."

"Right," he nodded, figuring there was some sort of final touch he'd need to take part in. A small part of him jumped at the chance to be needed. "Tell me what I have to do."

Kuramochi handed the phone over to him. He listened as Wakana explained the incantation and words he would have to say while sprinkling three pinches of his own dust into the concoction Kuramochi had prepared. He handed the phone back and then did as he'd been told, carefully reciting the words in a simple melody. It wasn't about the melody or the words, but the feelings they stirred. The only feeling Miyuki was having was heal, you have to heal, and hope.

They fed Sawamura three spoons of the the stuff and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"He's not waking up," Miyuki worried. He turned his attention to Kuramochi who was looking equally alarmed. "He was supposed to wake up, wasn't he? What does Wakana say?"

"She says he's supposed to wake up." He turned his attention back to the phone. "Yeah, uh-huh. I did all that. I did it right. I don't know. Yeah, he is." Kuramochi's head whipped up with wide eyes. "Let go of his hand," he snapped.

Miyuki frowned. "But-"

"He's feeding his energy into you."

Miyuki dropped it like he'd been burned. "God damn it!" he hissed. Kuramochi wasn't going the be the only one kicking his ass when they got through this. "What the hell was he thinking?"

This idiot. This absolutely infuriating idiot. Miyuki didn't think he'd ever been so mad in his life. Once they got through this, they would have to talk. There was no way he was letting him get away with this bullshit.

"Yeah, you've been poisoned too," Kuramochi told him and started back at the mixing, presumingly for an antidote for himself.

"Wha- Miyuki..." Sawamura's sleepy eyes opened, blinking a few times to clear his vision. He looked normal now, his eyes were back to being as they always were, those tiny little fangs were gone...

Miyuki continued to scowl without saying anything. His breath was becoming harsh. He was too mad to speak. How dare he.

Sawamura stretched and smiled lazily, before pushing himself up into a sitting position. "Oh," he said, noticing the gash at his side. Sawamura placed his hand over it, and mumbled a verse to himself. When he took his hand away, it looked the same but he supposed it'd done some sort of good, because Sawamura rolled his shirt back down, no longer caring for the wound.

His smile fell when he noticed Miyuki glaring at him. Miyuki could feel the sweat trickling from his brow. It was getting hotter and hotter, and he suspected if he moved, the world would spin, but like hell was he going to give Sawamura his hand again.

Sawamura reached for him but Miyuki jerked back. "No," he wheezed. It was getting harder to breath. He closed his eyes, he didn't want to see the look of hurt in the other boy's eyes.

"Oi. If you wanna help, here and incant this for him," Kuramochi called, shoving the new bowl towards him.

"Right." Sawamura snapped into action, taking the bowl and finishing the spell without hesitation, knowing exactly what to do.

"Damn it, Sawamura. This is why you suck at video games," Kuramochi growled, watching Sawamura feed three spoonfuls to Miyuki's drooping form. "Don't you know you're supposed to save the healer first?"

Sawamura bristled, shaking Miyuki to get him to open his eyes. "I have more HP and resistance buffs!"

Miyuki's vision slowly returned. He felt the burning throb of his ankle and sting at his back all too keenly, but his head was clearing and his body shivered. Too cold...

"Yes, we're taking this seriously," Kuramochi spoke into the phone and then held it out to the boy. "She want to talk to you." Sawamura took the phone and cringed as they could hear the buzz of her high pitched berating him over the speaker. With that out of the way, Kuramochi approached Miyuki, and helped him back onto the chair. "God, you're a mess."

Miyuki clenched his teeth, suppressing a hiss while Kuramochi maneuvered him and got a pillow for his foot. "I can say I slipped on the stairs with my ankle. But how am I going to explain the fact it looks like I've ben mauled by a bear?"

"Kyahaha, don't worry about it. Healing claw marks and bites. That's my area." Kuramochi grinned at him. Of course it was. Great, now he was going to be in everyone's debt, just perfect. Kuramochi actually looked excited. Guess he was happy to have something to one up the casters.

Sawamura hung up the phone with a sigh. "Well, she's pissed."

"Well gee, Bakamura, I wonder why?" Kuramochi curtly replied. Miyuki hissed as he felt Kuramochi begin to wash down his back.

"I had to! It was going to kill him!" Sawamura gestured wildly to Miyuki.

"And you have all the self preservation of a newborn pup. If you haven't noticed, he needs you. Alive."

Actually, what Miyuki needed was for him to stop pressing down so hard. The catcher grit his teeth, feeling the full burn of every laceration as they were cleaned. Between the two of them, he could already say which he preferred to play nurse. Kuramochi did not have a gentle touch.

"I wasn't going to die," argued Sawamura. "I'm not stupid."

"Could have fooled me," Miyuki seethed. "Don't ever do something like that again. I mean it."

"Well you can't stop me," the boy fumed and then noticed to two pendants around his neck. He pulled off the pain one and handed it towards him. "Wear it. I'm fine now."

"You've been stabbed," Miyuki deadpanned.

"And you had your ass kicked!" Sawamura didn't bother to wait for an answer, simply dropping it over his head and turned his attention to his roommate behind him. "Oh, is that wolf magic? Can I see?"

Kuramochi turned his back to him. "What happened to no sharing secrets?" he called over his shoulder.

"I'm not sharing, I'm just learning," Sawamura scowled.

"You worry about his ankle. We can work on his back together. What even was that thing. I've never seen claws like this."

Miyuki wondered just how many claw marks he has seen.

Sawamura shrugged. "No idea, actually."

Miyuki flinched violently, feeling the sharp point of a needle. The pain was numbed, the the sensation remained.

"Sorry," Kuramochi said. "Gotta stitch you up first for this to work." Stitches? He was giving him stitches in their room? Kuramochi? "Don't give me that look, Sawamura, you're next." The boy squawked, clasping his side protectively. Kuramochi rolled his eyes. "Sure, you guys have healing magic, but it does a shit job at preventing scarring. Let the experts handle this. You can do your singing, glitter stuff afterwards."

The boy grumbled something about savages, which Kuramochi had the grace to ignore, and sat down in front of Miyuki's foot.

Miyuki braced, feeling the cold needle slide through his skin and the tug of two sides being pulled together. He barely suppressed a shiver.

"That pain amulet must be pretty strong," Kuramochi commented after a few minutes.

Sawamura was busy mixing a black paste, and reading instructions from a spell book. The scene was a familiar one.

A wry smile played over Miyuki's face. "And yet, still not as bad as getting your wings in."

"Yeah, getting your wings hurts like a bitch," Samamura commented, only half paying attention. A pause, "Oh, er, no offence," he said looking up at Kuramochi.

"The fuck?" Kuramochi asked in affront.

"Didn't want to offend your mother, or something."

Miyuki would have laughed if he wasn't already busy face-palming.

Kuramochi growled, dropping his needle. "I'm kicking your ass."

"Wha, no, I'm injured!" Sawamura scurried back on the floor, in attempt to get away from his angry roommate.

"Then I'm taking a raincheck!"

"I'm sorry Kuramochi-senpai," Sawamura attempted to placate, bowing his head. "I didn't mean to use the B-word. It was species insensitive of me."

Kuramochi's nostrils flared. It was really hilarious seeing him get so worked up. Miyuki chortled to himself as Kuramochi crowded over Sawamura threateningly. "That's it, I'm kicking that royal ass of yours, injured or not."

As entertaining as that would be, Miyuki needed them both working on him at the moment. And besides, Kuramochi just brought up a lingering point. "About that," Miyuki interjected, drawing their attention back. "When exactly were you planning to share that little tidbit of information? You know, the part about you being a prince."

"Oh, erm, I was going to get to it, eventually" Sawamura gave them a sheepish smile. "It's not what you're thinking either. I'm not like a prince prince, or anything," he tried to explain with a sigh. "Well I am, but I'm not? I'm a demi-prince; they're different. I'm not in line to take over the Summer Court throne or anything, my family just happens to run this section of our clans fairy kingdom. I still have to answer to the Queen."

Miyuki rose an eyebrow. "So, you're like a feudal lord then?"

Sawamura shrugged looking uncomfortable. "Something like that."

"Does that mean if I hurt you, some royal guard's going show up and arrest me?" Kuramochi asked, still looming over him.

"What? No."

"Good."

Sawamura squealed as Kuramochi gave his arm a hard pinch. Guess he really did know better than to attack the boy who'd just almost died and still had a large open wound on his side.

"Hey, can you guys maybe not? It'll be time for practice before any of us get to bed," exasperated Miyuki. It had to be around four AM already.

"Whatever," Kuramochi said, going back to his task of sewing up his friends back. "But you better not expect me to bow or any stupid shit." He growled a few choice expletives that only Miyuki could hear.

Sawamura scowled, scooting back to his book. "Of course not. If you haven't noticed, I live on a farm. There's not that many of us in this part of the world. We don't do all that fancy stuff like at the european courts. Honestly they kind of look at us like those backwater cousins who always embarrass them at reunions but they have to invite anyways."

"Well yeah, if you're the representative," Miyuki laughed. "It's an easy mistake."

Sawamura's face turned bright red. "Miyuki Kazuya, you are horrible and don't know anything! Stop calling me stupid."

"Well I'm not calling you 'your highness', either," Miyuki snorted. "Especially when it seems 'Miyuki-senpai' is so difficult for you."

It really was too easy. But joking aside, the one thing that stuck out to him was the fact that things could get very complicated for them- for him, if he wanted to stay low key. If Sawamura was a prince, and he was claimed by him, what did that make him? And what about Sawamura's career? Didn't he want to play professionally, could he do that while being, well, a prince? What did his family even do, if they could get by ruling while living on a farm?

Sawamura was busy fussing with his mixture of paste on the floor by his foot. His head was bent down but Miyuki could tell he was pouting. Without much thought, Miyuki leaned forward and reached out, lifting the boys bangs. "Hey," he said when Sawamura flinched back. "So what happens now- with everything?"

Sawamura blinked owlishly up at him and then smiled. "Now you're a part of my family. By the law of Haven, anyways. We'll need to make a trip on the weekend to my home and sign a few papers, but since I decreed it, it's already set." Sawamura finished his mixing and grabbed a tiny paint brush. He dipped it in the black paste, and rolled the pant leg up to reveal Miyuki's ankle. "I don't know who else was out there tonight, but they heard me and made note. So it's official. I really wish I knew who that was. Their magic was just so..."

"Cold," Kuramochi answered for him. "It didn't feel right. It was oppressive, but then, they were trying to intimidate that- what ever she was, away. Who ever they were, they now know us, or at least you two for sure."

"Yeah..." Sawamura frowned, getting to work writing their language on his ankle. Some sort of healing spell, he supposed. "But anyway, since I claimed you, that makes you, like, my cousin in the eyes of the court. Or maybe my brother?" Sawamura frowned, thinking it through. "I mean, it gets a little wonky because of my position. Because you're not part of the succession, right? But you can come to the High Imperial Court, which is just open to my immediate family. Not even Wakana can get in... unless we have a marriage bond." The boy crinkled up his nose, showing his true thoughts on the subject.

Miyuki shook his head. "You guys have way too many courts."

"Only nine, officially. But I guess all the different regions could also be considered courts of their own, since we do our own thing for the most part. There's the four Seelie Courts and four Unseelie ones, then over them both reins the High Imperial Court, which is made up of the highest ranking nobility of all the courts combined."

"Including you," Miyuki stated. How was this kid real?

"Yeah..."

"Wait," Kuramochi interrupted. "Fairies, and pixies, and all you bugs have this weird form of succession, don't you?"

Sawamura snorted. "Yeah, we do." The boy gave them a crooked smile. "Guess who's the forth generation."

"No fucking way," Kuramochi cursed, wide eyed. Sawamura nodded, not looking up. He was being oddly reserved about this. "So when you say High Imperial Court, you mean, you hold an actual counsel seat. As in, right now?"

Miyuki was completely lost.

Instead of answering, Sawamura's head tilted. "How do you know so much about fairies?"

"Because unlike you, when I found out my friend was a halfbreed fey, I did my fucking research."

"Why would I research fairies? I don't-"

"Oh my god, that wasn't- never mind," Kuramochi fumed. He was referring to wolves, but of course that went right over the boy's head.

"You guys realize that none of what you're saying makes any sense to me," Miyuki added.

"What Sawamura is dodging around, is the fact that backwater cousins or not, he holds a place of power among all fairies, and that includes your former clan." Kuramochi cackled. "Man, do I wanna see their face when they realize just who they pissed off."

"You're exaggerating. It's not like that. For us, succession skips three generations- long story - but I'm the fourth. So the title sits with me, not my dad or gramps." Sawamura put down his brush to inspect Miyuki's leg and foot which was now covered in fey markings that he would eventually have to learn to understand. "Sometimes a clan will have no living prince or princess, or even king or queen, because the generation is off. The regents have less influence in the Imperial Court. That's all. Fey live so long, there's usually always one present though. And like I said, no one cares about my territory. We thankfully, get left out of political squabbles and interspecies drama."

"So," Miyuki began, taking it all in. Baseball was probably as much an escape as it was a dream for the kid. No wonder he threw himself so fervently into it, if this was what waited at home. Constant magic study, politics, and even a fiancé... "Then how does you refusing to marry Wakana sit with all this? I can see why her family would be a little put off."

It probably wasn't nice to bring up, and Kuramochi had paused on his back, but he was curious. Sawamura being basically royalty, changed things.

The boy's face scrunched up like he'd tasted something sour. "I need to concentrate on this," he said, picking back up his brush, though he had already finished.

Miyuki shook his head. "Your skills of deflection are impeccable."

"Do you want your ankle healed or not?" He startled them by smacking the brush back down. "Of course they're pissed! Even she's pissed on some level. She's been training since birth to be my partner and advisor, and now she can't even get into the Imperial Court, where it'll matter the most." Sawamura's voice rose, but he sounded more frustrated than mad. "Mom calls it a viper pit, since the Unseelie are there too, we don't exactly get along with them. And they're all worried sick that I'm just going to screw things up, because I'm such an idiot."

"Better marry someone smart then," Miyuki quipped offhandedly. Actually, it seemed he'd hit a nerve, so maybe he should back off. But the boy he thought he knew so well had suddenly become an enigma, with secret after secret being revealed to them.

Sawamura looked him in the eye, completely blank faced. The intensity of his gaze caused Miyuki's smile to falter before the boy looked down at his ankle saying, "It's not that simple."

"Never is," Kuramochi spoke up. "But Wakana does seem like the perfect match. Hell, she even likes baseball and she's managed to keep you in line. Not to mention she's pretty damn hot, I don't see-"

"I don't want her." Sawamura made a show of cleaning up his supplies, angrily shoving items back in their bags. "Maybe I don't want to marry anybody! Why are we even talking about this?"

"Royalty don't get that luxury," Kuramochi told him bluntly.

"I can't marry her. Just- leave it, okay," Sawamura pleaded. "It's late, I'm tired, some of us nearly died... I need finish this ankle, and we'll still have my side to do after his back."

Miyuki had the grace to feel bad for prying. But he supposed they were all getting a bit cranky; speaking more freely. "Sorry."

Sawamura squinted at him, as though there was a trick to his apology and grunted a 'thanks', when he supposed there wasn't. The entire night had been surreal. And really, all Miyuki wanted to do right now was curl up and go to sleep.

"I'm going to start the enchantment on your ankle now, so please don't distract me. It's going to take a while," Sawamura told them, rubbing his hands together before hovering them over the break. He then closed his eyes and began to sing a quiet song. Little by little, Miyuki began to feel a tingling in his leg and foot, and the lettering painted on his skin began to glow.

After a minute of watching, Kuramochi went back to his stitches and they quietly stayed like that, with only Sawamura's soft singing keeping them company for the next fifteen minutes. Kuramochi finished first and took the time to clean up the area. Much of Sawamura's supplies were scattered, and there were stains of blood everywhere. He pulled out a surface cleaner and began wiping things down to give his dorm room some semblance of normalcy.

Miyuki could feel his eyes droop. Tomorrow was going to be a complete nightmare, and he wondered if there was a way all three of them could skip with out being called out. His ankle felt weird, it was hard to describe, warm and throbbing, but not in pain. He was just very aware of it.

Sawamura was still hunched over, deep in concentration. Miyuki felt a swelling in his chest watching him. God, he was just supposed to be one of his selfish pitchers. Not- not this. And now they were family? They were bound by contract for the rest of his life. An uneasy feeling of being trapped shivered down his spine. For the first time, the future frightened him. All his plans, irrevocably changed.

Sawamura's shoulders slumped and then he looked up with his bright golden eyes. "Finished. There, now try putting weight on that?"

Miyuki tentatively leaned onto his ankle, not feeling any discomfort.

"Hold up," Sawamura interrupted. "Take off the pain amulet, incase it's masking something that's still not right. I need to know if anything feels off."

Miyuki complied, setting it on the side desk and hissing under breath as his back flamed from the still raw lacerations. But he stood up.

And it felt fine.

Miyuki let out a deep breath of relief. He tried walking on it a bit, and then bouncing in place. It was good. It felt fine. It was like it never broke to begin with. Sawamura was watching with keen eyes, waiting to catch any imperfection.

"It's good, Sawamura. It worked," Miyuki told him with a smile. Magic, right? "Thank you."

Sawamura's grin could light up the room. "Yes, haha, I the great Sawamura Eijun did it! Prince of summer, healer of bones. Hell yeah!"

Miyuki's lip twitched. "Don't let it go to your head now." How many times had he had to tell the boy thank you over the past few weeks, yet he still had the same reaction?

"Miyuki Kazuya, do you know how hard it is to fix a broken bone in a single session? Most would never even attempt it!"

"Because they're not a fool like you," Kuramochi injected.

"But I did it! I'm totally awesome! Hahahahaha."

"Glad to be your guinea pig," Miyuki answered, and reached out to ruffle the boy's hair. Sawamura froze and then ducked away, face red and attempting to flatten his messy mop. But he could still see the smile.

"Alright, now sit your 'awesome' ass down, I need to stitch up your side," Kuramochi said, coming towards him with his own set of supplies.

"Sure thing, Mochi-senpai."

Miyuki was about to replace the amulet but then thought better and handed it over to Sawamura. He was going to need it for this part. With Kuramochi working away, Miyuki took the opportunity to go over to the mirror and inspect his back for the first time. He hissed to himself, taking in the carnage for the first time. Five jagged lines scored his skin from the top of one shoulder blade to the base of the other. He really hoped the two of them had some way to prevent or conceal the scars. What would he say, he got lost in the woods and was attacked by a mountain lion?

Kuramochi and Sawamura were yammering away to one another, Sawamura constantly asking questions about wolf magic and Kuramoch telling his to 'quit squirming'. This was his life now, he supposed. The three of them, stuck together. He didn't know how he felt about that.

"Now wolf magic doesn't work like your fast and fancy spell casting. It's slow and ugly, but it gets the job done. Yours leaves marks right?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's not all about speed. If we had a way to do it slower but left no scar, we'd go with that. But for something, that deep..."

Kuramochi nodded, turning his attention to Miyuki. "It'll take a few days for it to completely heal. You'll have to avoid the baths at normal times. Wolf magic works around the belief you have to have time to fully appreciate your wounds before they leave you. Were it the old days, we wouldn't get rid of them at all. But obviously people can't walk around looking like they've been in a million animal fights. One should feel pride in their scars, visible or no."

"Kuramochi-senpai, he was attacked," Sawamura provoked. "This wasn't some dominance fight or about wounded pride. He didn't agree to this."

Kuramochi's eyes narrowed. "You think-" He cut himself off, taking a breath. "Respect the magic. Isn't that was you casters like to say? Well the same principles apply."

"But it's not real wolf magic," the boy went on, oblivious to Kuramochi's rising ire. "It's borrowed concepts. Like-"

"Sawamura, shut up," he snapped and then gestured to Miyuki's back. "You do your thing to heal the parts effected by the poison and let's leave the commentary at that."

"The poison's still a problem?" Miyuki asked, eyeing Sawamura for any signs of lingering effects.

Kuramochi snorted. "Poison's cheap, we don't use it in our fights, but the wolf way to get rid of it, would be to simply cut the dead skin out. So on this, I'll concede to the fairy method."

"Right," Miyuki agreed, not liking that imagery at all. "Good plan." He did not like the idea of having large chunks cut out of him, no thank you. "With this, and that thing tonight, I had kind of thought that magic was just a caster thing, but all predators have it? Is it just not as powerful?"

"A species isn't labeled a predator just because they have teeth and claws," Sawamura explained, paying little attention to the wolf in the room. "They're a predator because they kill. It's what they do, and why they're so dangerous. They're killers and the Haven looks the other way." Miyuki couldn't hide his surprise. Was this kid serious? "It's hard to place blame when it's part of their nature. But that's why casters-"

Sawamura was unable to finish his sentence because Kuramochi had just punched him hard across the face. The boy stumbled and turned with a hand against his jaw looking completely shocked and stunned.

To be perfectly honest, Miyuki couldn't actually blame Kuramochi for that one.

"Say that again," the shortstop demanded, crowding in on the still stunned boy.

"Wha-"

Kuramochi grabbed the front of his hoodie and yanked him forward. "Say it! Tell me I'm a murderer, or will eventually be one. Go on."

Miyuki cringed. The kid had really stepped in it now. And even Miyuki could see that he'd crossed a line. Not only that, but Sawamura had been prone to making these little off hand comments that left the shortstop grinding his teeth on the subject. He was getting the impression that casters, or at least Sawamura, had a bit of a superiority complex when it came to those classified as predators. Or maybe it was the Haven as a whole? He was still too new to this; hadn't met enough to really judge how the others looked towards different species. But what Sawamura said was unfair.

Sawamura's mouth opened and closed with no answer, instead his eyes turned glassy as though he were about to cry.

Kuramochi dropped him, shoving him away. "That's what I thought."

"I didn't mean-"

"What? Didn't mean me? My family? The people who helped raise me?"

Miyuki watched Sawamura. When their eyes met, he kept his expression closed, letting him know he was also not happy with his comments either. Kuramochi didn't deserve that. Not after all he'd done for the boy this past year, as a senpai and friend.

And now he really was crying, bowing deeply. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry Kuramochi-senpai. It's just-"

"No. No excuses," he cut him off again. Sawamura's tears began to fall in ernest. "I'm not putting up with that shit. You know me."

The boy was completely distraught. He looked to Miyuki, as though he would help him, then thought better of it and dropped his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered sincerely. "I'll- I'll just deal with this on my own-" He gestured to the gash at his side- "You should stay here, Miyuki-senpai, just in case. I'll go sleep in your room."

Kuramochi exhaled audibly. "Sit your ass down, Sawamura. You're not going anywhere, and I'm healing your side." He ran a hand over his face, to calm himself. "Just, for fuck sakes, think about what you say."

And just like that, a spark of hope returned to the boy's face. He promised he would, apologizing profusely. And Kuramochi still seemed irritated, snapping at the boy if he turned the wrong way, but Miyuki knew from first hand experience that Sawamura was hard to stay mad at.

They finished up in mostly silence. Everyone could tell they were cranky and tired and had just been through too much, and needed a reprieve from it all. Miyuki was given the spare bed; they all agreed it was safer if he remained with them till his adoption was made known, and they'd leave for Sawamura's family home that coming Saturday to do just that.

As Miyuki curled on his side, he knew his previous plan was never going to be possible, and that Sawamura had known this all along. There was no way he could avoid the Haven and live as though nothing had changed. Everything had changed. There was a whole new world he needed to learn, with cultures and customs, and prejudice and hate.

But there was also this new warmth he felt in his gut. It was the same kind of warmth he'd felt for the when he'd initially come to Seidou. A sense of belonging? No that couldn't be right, the older senpai were none too pleased with this mouthy first year snatching up Chris's spot on first string when he'd sacrificed so much for the team. But really, it wasn't the third years, but the second years that had embraced him into the fold. Tetsu and Jun would force their way into his room, bringing along the new first string after the third years had retired, and setting up home base, basically forcing him to integrate himself. He'd complained loudly, but in the end, part of him was thankful they'd done it.

And now it was happening again. He was being forced, kicking and screaming, yet Sawamura and Kuramochi weren't giving up. They'd steadfastly claimed him as 'one of us', and that was the end of that. He felt himself smile at the thought. What a bunch of idiots he'd found himself stuck with.

One thing was for sure, the future was going to be very interesting from now on.


	4. Chapter 4

The train ride was quiet. As soon as Saturday practice had finished, the trio washed, packed an over night bag, and headed out to the station. Coming up with excuses why all three of them were leaving, had been awkward, especially when it was becoming more noticed that the three would often seclude themselves in Kuramochi's room, when before the first string often gathered in Miyuki's.

They used the excuse of having to work on a project together, and that was what they were still using. But it wasn't like some of their teammates weren't in their class, and knew perfectly well there was no such project. Miyuki was able to deflect all questions saying they were doing some on site research in the city, and Mochi would stay at his place. Sawamura on the other hand, claimed a family function, though Haruichi had looked at him skeptically, asking a few probing questions. Fortunately the boy dropped it, satisfied with Sawamura's random answers that made little sense.

And so they'd managed to get away with little difficulty. Sawamura had been a little paranoid on their way to the station but Kuramochi put him in a headlock, reminding him that he wasn't going to let anything happen. They were too much in public anyways.

The rumble and sway of the train lulled them into a quiet calm. Sawamura's head dipped to his chest in sleep and eventually ended up leaning into Miyuki's shoulder. The older boy rolled his eyes but didn't shake him off. Instead he let out a sigh and rested his head back, staring at the adds above the passengers heads.

"I called my dad," Miyuki said in a quiet voice. Kuramochi looked up from his phone. "Tried to see if he actually knew anything about all this."

Kuramochi put his phone away, Miyuki actually speaking of his personal life warranted as much. "Oh? And how'd that go."

"Not great," Miyuki told him. "He doesn't know anything about my moms family, though he may now be under the impression that I'm half Korean."

Kuramochi snorted. "Well, at least that means you can keep him out of all this. He doesn't have to know."

"Mmm," Miyuki agreed. "I just wish- Like you know when you're a kid and you just never saw your mom as a person? Mom was just mom. I have no idea who the person my mom actually was. I just don't understand. Why go with my dad? She was an adult. She had to know-"

"Miyuki, we could guess at reasons all night and still have no idea. Maybe it was as simple as, she just fell in love? Not everyone thinks with their heads over their hearts." Kuramochi gestured to the boy dozing at his side. "Case in point."

Miyuki signed, looking down at the mop of brown hair on his shoulder. "And now I'm stuck with him."

Kuramochi thinned his lips as if wanted to say something but held back.

They shook Sawamura awake just as they were arriving at their stop and got him to lead them out of the platform and to the parking lot; his gramps was supposed be waiting for them. Miyuki tried his best not to be nervous, but he really wasn't sure what to expect. He was a complete outsider, wasn't he? And now, because Sawamura just happened to have the authority, he'd decreed him as part of their family.

The ride to Sawamura's farm was uneventful. His grandfather had given them a courteous greeting and then herded them into their truck to get going, though not before giving Sawamura a hard smack for not offering to load their bags first. When they arrived, they were dropped at the front of the family home and then he left to park and inform Sawamura's father, who was working in the back.

Sawamura ran up his front porch and banged open the door, yelling their arrival. A petite woman came to great them, smiling warmly. Her son met her with a hug and then turned to introduce the others. Her gaze swept over them, lingering of course, on Miyuki. She then surprised them by sweeping him into a tight hug. Miyuki stiffened, his eyes going wide. He could see Kuramochi holding back a snicker beside him. What was it with these people and hugging?

"You are of course very welcome to this family, Miyuki-kun," she told him gently. Miyuki blushed, giving her his thanks and not really knowing what he was supposed to do.

Kuramochi's mirth was cut short when she then reached and hugged him too. Miyuki caught his eye over her shoulder, his expression letting him know he was enjoying the turnabout while Kuramochi squinted at him.

"And you too," she told him. "I understand you played a major role in saving my boys lives." Miyuki stiffened, not missing her wording. "You have the deepest gratitude of our people. And I intend for your pack to know that, too."

Now it was Kuramochi's turn to blush and shift uncomfortably. "You- you don't have to. I mean thank you, but er..."

"Mom, you're embarrassing me," Sawamura whined. The woman rolled her eyes, but lead them through the house without further ado.

Sawamura gave them a quick tour and dropped their bags in his room before leading them back to sit in the kitchen, where his mom was preparing dinner. Miyuki felt at a lose. The long trip and now the reality that he was going to be a part of these peoples lives left him light headed and guarded. He was acutely aware of all his nerves and now even though he had Kuramochi and Sawamura by his side, his nerves were beginning to fray. True, Sawamura never treated him like a charity case, he just seemed excited to have another fey buddy around to be open with, but he doubted the rest of his clan felt the same. They were doing this out of a sense of duty and privilege. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"Dinner won't be too much longer," Sawamura-san told them. "I know you've had a long trip. We'll deal with all the formalities after we've had a good meal."

"Uh, what exactly does that entail?" Miyuki asked. "Sawamura just mentioned having to sign a few papers?"

Sawamura-san pressed her lips together. "There's that, but also your fairy rings, which will take quite a few hours. My husband suggested perhaps not doing them all at once and save some for new years. You will be joining us a day at least over the holidays, I hope?" She turned from where she was working to gauge his reaction.

"Uh..."

"We don't do much for the Winter Festival and normally skip it, if I'm being honest, but new years is new years for all of us. Kuramochi-kun, you too. We'd love to see more of you. I mean-" She laughed to herself. "You're practically Eijun's shield. That's how the councils going to see it, anyways. Might as well enjoy the perks."

Kuramochi gave Sawamura a look, but the boy just smiled back at him, like they weren't having this all dropped on them out of nowhere. If he thought he was getting out of this unscathed, he had another thing coming.

"I'm sorry, Sawamura-san, but I don't exactly know what fairy rings are?" Miyuki asked, deciding to go with the safe topic before making any decisions on the rest.

"Eijun, you didn't explain fairy rings?" she exasperated.

"Mom, there was a lot going on. I didn't want to overwhelm him. It's no big deal anyways."

"If it's no big deal, then why didn't you tell him. Has he at least seen yours?"

"Uh, no, I guess he hasn't..."

The woman sighed turning to the others. "Fairy rings are bands we have on our arms, like a tattoo, though they're not visible most of the time. Eijun, show them yours."

"Right."

"Eijun's are quite intricate. They change depending on rank."

Sawamura took off his hoodie, and pushed his sleeve up. Miyuki watched as he scrunched up his face in concentration. After a moment a number of golden bands began emerging against the skin of his forearm of various width and design.

"Eijun, what have I told you about making silly faces," his mom said, lightly taping the back of his head. "People are going to think you're slow."

Miyuki and Kuramochi shared a look but said nothing. Mom's were allowed, they probably weren't. Sawamura scowled behind his mothers back.

There was one thick strip a centimetre wide - all fey have this, a larger band with intricate designs running through it - their family's specific band, a smaller band with swirls - their court, an intricate design that was the most striking of all zig-zag pattern - the imperial court, three small lines close together - the forth generation, and the top line which spiked in waves on the upper edge - the demi prince. Sawamura-san explained them all to them with simplicity, going on to say how her's would differ; she had her maiden families line, but on her other arm would be the Sawamura's line, her zig-zags were on the opposite arm as well because she married into the family, and she had a line for being married to the third generation regent on the right arm.

"Miyuki-kun, you'll have the same first three and a variation of the forth. Had your family exiled you after having their rings, the family line would be blocked out by an expanded fairy line, the others would be blocked too but not connected into a thick line. Most fey only have the three lines, and marriage bond lines on their left. Having more than three denotes you of holding rank."

Miyuki internally cringed. He wasn't sure how he felt about being marked as part of the nobility when he could barely call himself fey to begin with. But then, he supposed the rings were rarely seen, he hadn't seen Sawamura's before now, after all.

"Now there's two ways we can place them on you. There's the traditional way, which can be a bit painful and shouldn't be done all at once. Or a more modern method, using needles to numb the skin first and a special wrap."

"The new way is for wussies," Sawamura added.

"Eijun!"

"What? I said wussies, _wuss_ , not-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," his mother scolded. "And there's nothing wrong with doing things the new way."

"Right, liked you'd ever let me."

"You're the demi prince."

"And I'm not a wuss." Sawamura turned to Miyuki. "The new way is for the sick or feeble... or emergencies or something. Go traditional or you'll never live it down-" _Smack._ "Ow! Mom!"

Miyuki smirked. This was nice. This wasn't so bad.

"So, Miyuki-kun, it's up to you. You don't need to listen to him." Sawamura rolled his eyes behind her back.

Miyuki shrugged with a half smile. He was stuck with this now anyways. "I guess I'll go traditional" -Sawamura fist pumped- "after everything, it can't be worse than getting your wings in, right?"

Sawamura's mom snorted. "No kidding. This kid put me through over 14 hours of labour, yet I'd still chose that over my wings again." The woman looked over their group fondly and then sighed. "Eijun, why don't you and Kuramochi-kun go and pick Wakana-chan up? Miyuki-kun, could you help me with the vegetables?"

"But-" Sawamura cut off when his mother gave him the look.

"Come on, you," Kuramochi said, grabbing his shirt by the scruff and pulling him away. He gave Miyuki a reassuring nod as they passed.

Great, Miyuki thought, he was going to get _the talk_ now. He'd kind of suspected it would come from Sawamura's dad or grandfather, since they were the ones holding the title of regent, but was quickly learning that the Sawamura matriarch was very much a backbone that kept so many hot personalities together.

She gave him a pepper to cut. "This has been a lot for you Miyuki-kun, how are you holding up? Truly?"

"I- I'm doing alright..."

She laughed. "I don't believe that for a second. I know my son has been trying his best to ease you into this and explain everything there is to know, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you he can be a bit of an idiot." Miyuki smirked, not lifting his eyes from the small cubes he was cutting. "So any questions you have, I'll be happy to answer for you, and I'll keep them to myself if you want. We've got at least twenty minutes before the boys get back. Whatever's on your mind, now's the time to clear it up."

"Thank you, Sawamura-san," he said politely. "I'll have to think on it."

Was there anything?

There was everything.

And there was nothing.

He didn't want to know...

She had stopped what she was doing and stared at him hard. "Miyuki-kun, ask me what you want to know."

Miyuki still didn't lift his eyes. It wasn't exactly polite table conversation, but- "Do you think my mother was murdered?"

The woman paused, taking a breath and Miyuki felt a shiver run down his spine. She didn't insult him by giving a fake reassuring smile. "It is possible, I'm ashamed to say. The timing is strange, but if she had run away and they'd only just found her, I think it very likely." She ran a hand through her hair uncomfortably. Part of Miyuki felt bad for asking, while another was filled with bitter anger. "However, if she wasn't in hiding, then everything was probably as it appeared. It would have been a choice of her families, not the clan itself. There is no blanket law against what she did."

Miyuki swallowed as his other worry resurfaced. "Is my father in danger?"

To that, Sawamura-san's response was swift and vehement. "No. That I can assure you. He's not one of us. If they go after him, the Haven will step in."

"But they wouldn't for my mom."

"They would consider that a family matter."

Gritting his teeth, Miyuki tried to let the 'matter' go. There was no reason to get angry at these people. They did nothing. They did the exact opposite in fact. It was still hard for him to wrap his mind around the idea that he would very likely be dead right now if it weren't for Sawamura and Kuramochi. That he had truly been that close to dying, at the ripe age of seventeen. And the Haven would make it disappear. No one would have known the truth.

"Sawamura said that I would be able to continue playing baseball." He decided to changed the subject. "Even professionally, is that true?"

Sawamura's mom smiled, turning back to her prep and probably thankful to leave the topic. "Of course. We are in all professions, everywhere. Even professional baseball. As long as you keep your magic hidden, there are no limits to what you choose to pursue in the human world."

"And Sawamura, given his position, will he be able to play post high school?" It was a valid concern after all. Surely the prince, had 'princely' things to do, wouldn't he?

"Yes. We intend to support him in order for him to live an as full life as he wishes. He'll have to balance his responsibilities, of course, but I have no doubt that he'll manage when it's his two biggest passions at stake."

That caught his attention. "Two?"

She shook her head. "He has an absolute love for magic and the arcane arts. As it is, he's out stripped both his father and I when it comes to personal skill. As for being a political leader... Well, he is a leader, always has been, and can inspire our people to great lengths." She smiled wistfully and Miyuki couldn't deny that he'd seen some of those vary traits in the past, though he still could use a healthy dose of maturity to go with them. "As for the politics side, there isn't too much that's required of him; not at this stage of his life. His father and I aren't planning on leaving anytime soon, so we'll help guide him. And there's Wakana-chan..."

"His fiancé?" he prompted, curious on Sawamura's family's take of the subject.

"Oh, they're not getting married, dear," she smoothly replied, as though she found the very notion particularly amusing.

There was something behind that. "He might change his mind. Right now the only thing on his mind is baseball."

She shook her head. "A mother knows these things. Trust me, there's nothing to worry about there. It's probably best you ask him directly, if you're still doubtful."

They had, but his mom was definitely making it sound like there was more to it than the explanation they'd gotten. "And what do you require of me?" Best to get everything out of the way, with the way Sawamura liked to dance around topics that directly involved him. _Easing him into it, his ass._ "What are my expectations, now that I'm apart of your clan?"

"You mean family? Well, for now it would be best to just work on learning the language. You'll find it'll come to you fairly easily once you've started. Reading and writing will come after. We use an alphabet, so as long as you can speak the language, picking up reading will be very simple," she explained simply. "That is all that is 'required'. We would like, but would never force you, to attend the yearly summer festival, and when you're old enough, the spring one too. Eijun will need to attend the fall and winter ones as well, but they're not as important to our clan."

He made a face, remembering Kuramochi's warnings. He explained when he saw Sawamura-san watching him curiously. "Sorry, it's just my friend might have told me about that. The, er, spring festival..."

He felt his face turn red and she chuckled. "Rumours, right? Trust me, they're greatly exaggerated. Other races have just caught wind of how great our parties are and try to discredit us with nonsense. We're so spread out, especially in this part of the world. It's a necessary way for new adults to meet each other. The bonds formed at the festivals can last a lifetime. It's not all about dating, but friendship too."

And with that, the other thing that had been worrying at the back of his head; that he kept pushing down and refusing to think on, resurfaced. He wasn't a proper fey, after all. Even with the Sawamura's claiming him, him being a halfling didn't change. His doubt's must have shown on his face.

"What ever it is, I'm not going to judge. It never has to leave this room."

Miyuki looked over his should, having to reassure himself that they really were alone. He didn't want to ask this, but part of him needed to know. And Sawamura would dance around the subject all night even if he demanded a straight answer.

"What about when I get older. After I've retire from baseball..." He couldn't look at her. Didn't want to see her face fall. "Is anyone even going to want to marry a _halfbreed_ ; is that even allowed?"

Miyuki heard a choked gasp. For a moment he was worried she was going to hug him again. "Of course! Absolutely. And don't call yourself a halfbreed, there's no shame in being a halfling. Not all women want to have children, especially in todays age. And being unable to actually opens up the human market to you. And there are plenty of single mothers, especially within the Haven, if you do want to form a family."

 _Wait. What was she-_ Miyuki's eyes turned to saucers. It felt as though a bucket of ice had just been dumped on him. He'd never even considered... _No, no, no. Not that too._

Miyuki blushed hard, staring down at his hands. "Unable... You- I..."

No. He had to be misunderstanding her.

This time Sawamura's mother really did gasp. "Eijun didn't tell you? Of course he didn't..." He knew the answer already. He wouldn't look at her. Didn't want to see those eyes filled with pity. This was his fate after all. Just his lot in life. He should be used to it by now, really. "I am _so_ , so sorry. Like with crossing any similar but different species-"

Miyuki released a single, dry laugh. "I'm basically a mule."

"Miyuki-kun..."

"Heh, well I guess that answered that." He continued to chop the pepper into ever smaller cubes. But it wasn't her fault. He swallowed, trying to push off his emotions. This didn't need to effect him after all. It was so far in the future anyways. What did it matter when there was no surety before it was going to happen to begin with? "Sorry, I mean I never really considered before."

But he had. Maybe not as anything beyond an idealized concept. But it had always been there, this assumed future where he and some faceless woman had a family. Where he saw his retired years coaching his child's team and giving them the attention he'd never received...

He pushed the thought away. His father worked hard to support him. It wasn't his fault his mother had died. They'd supported each other, hadn't they? He'd turned out fine...

She tried to give him and encouraging smile. "Adoption is actually very common amongst the Haven. Many marry across species and can't have children. Why my cousin married a pixie and brings her to all our festivals. Raises her children as his own. They're very happy." She put a hand on his, stopping his cutting. The peppers were getting closer to being minced at this point anyways. She moved to add them to the pan with the other vegetables. "And really, if you forgive me for saying so, but your being a part of our family now makes you _very_ eligible."

They'd awkwardly talked some more till Sawamura and Kuramochi returned with Wakana. Or rather, she talked and he listened. Probably correctly guessing that he was uncomfortable. She went on about current events within the Haven, speaking on subjects he had no bases for understanding, but he appreciated her attempting to normalize him to their world. It had been similar to what Sawamura and Kuramochi had been doing when he came over for his wing stretches.

"Oh my god, Miyuki, you have no idea how close I just came to dying!"

"What? You were perfectly safe! Stop lying."

"It's not a lie, you nearly ran us off the road! By the way, did you know Sawamura can drive? Well actually, not drive, by what we just went through."

"What!"

"Now, now, Kuramochi, it wasn't that bad. Ei-chan drives me all the time, and I'm still here. Swerving and all."

" _Wakanaaa._ "

"That doesn't change anything!"

"Wait, wait," Miyuki interrupted, taking in the disheveled group that had just barrelled into the kitchen. "Sawamura drove?"

"It's just a dirt back road. Wakana lives only a few properties down," Sawamura answered as if that explained everything. "It's a farm!"

His mother giggled softly.

"So... you drove."

Wakana turned to Sawamura, a cheeky smile on her face. "City boys, right?"

"Yeah," Sawamura laughed.

Miyuki and Kuramochi shared an equally perplexed and unnerved look.

Dinner was a bit of an ordeal.

"Dad!"

"What, I bet your friends want to see some genuine fairy wings. Right kids?"

"No they don't!"

"Put those away, dear. You're getting dust everywhere and no one wants it in their food."

"They ought to see the real thing."

"Dad..." Sawamura whined, clearly embarrassed.

"Don't you dare _pop_ in this house _,_ " his mother said, but it was too late. One moment his father was there, the next a puff of fairy dust exploded before them. Miyuki blinked and then realized there was a person hovering in the middle of the settling dust.

"Oh my god, Sawamura, you can shrink?" Kuramochi asked, watching the little man flitter about the room.

Sawamura's mother was livid, digging out the dust buster because the room was now covered in a glittering sheen.

"Of course! Well, I can't pop yet. That's something you need you're adult wings for. But how else to you expect us to fly? People aren't light, you know."

"I thought that was why your wings were so freaking huge."

"These? Naw, even I know enough about physics to know humans would need a wing span like four times their size or something like that."

The signing of the papers ended up being exactly that. No pomp or circumstance, no magic or flair. Just an ink pen and his signature. They'd shrugged when he'd asked, "That's it?" There really was nothing more to it. They'd file it away with the upper courts of the Haven, and by the end of tomorrow, he'd be properly registered as a Sawamura Summer Court fairy.

His fairy rings had been a different matter. Sawamura-san hadn't actually explained what it entailed, except that it could hurt. When Sawamura Eitoku brought out traditional tattooing equipment, he paled, realizing perhaps this was a tad more than he'd been ready for.

They explained to him it wasn't like a normal tattoo, it wouldn't be visible unless he called on his fairy magic, but that meant little in the face of a metal prong attached to a piece of wood that would be pierced into him repeatedly.

Kuramochi laughed. Oh, he laughed, and laughed, and laughed at Miyuki's ever paling face. Apparently wolves had something similar to signify packs, and the fact that Miyuki was scared of a little needle- as if that were all it was- was absolutely hilarious to him. Even Wakana had her rings the traditional way, he'd said. The girl smugly nodded, pushing up her arm sleeve to reveal the four bands of shimmering gold she sported. Fairy, family, Summer Court, and nobility, she clarified, as he tried to remember what the lines meant. He would have four too.

They'd never let him live it down. If he backed out now, Sawamura would bring it up at every opportunity and Kuramochi would be even worse.

"How, er, how bad is it?" he asked hesitantly, watching with itching nerves as they disinfected the table and mixed the special 'fairy ink' they used. Sawamura had already given over the pouch of red dust they'd collected from him.

"Well, after a while your body starts giving off natural endorphins anyways, so it gets better," Sawamura's mom explained.

Great, it hurt so much your body gave endorphins, just what he was looking forward to after a week of having his ankle broken and back mauled. He looked at everyone's expectant faces. _Did he really have a choice?_ Miyuki rolled up his sleeve - and then changed into one of Sawamura's old t-shirts when they told him that would be easier, causing him to blush more than a little bit with the whole family plus Wakana staring at him - and braced himself for the worst. _Hurray for rights of passage._

Sawamura's grandfather did the work, with his grandson hovering closely, watching how it was done. Miyuki got the sinking suspicion that Sawamura would be the one working on his later rings with how closely Sawamura Eitoku was instructing him. And of course, Kuramochi's constant ' _don't flinch now,_ ' while Wakana lightly smacked him, wasn't helping. The shortstop was probably doing it just to get the attention from her.

And yeah, it hurt. Miyuki was clenching his fist and biting his lip until his skin felt almost numb to the sensation. This was not how he'd planned to spend his Saturday night. The underside of his arm had been the worst. The sensitive skin there had not been toughened by the sun over the years, and it had been absolutely brutal to not make a noise and keep face while the other were watching.

The rest of the family kept a casual conversation around him, trying to distract him, no doubt. They talked of the neighbouring pixie nests, and a three tailed fox that enjoyed stealing from the neighbours; they'd fox proofed their farm long ago, and a dragon in the mountains that once tried to hoard a car because she found it shinny- a tanuki had talked her into it apparently.

It was late before they decided to take a break for the night. Sawamura's father had taken Wakana home and his mom left for bed. Miyuki looked at the work that had been done. The thick band had been filled and some outlines of the others were begun. The markings would set into the skin by morning, leaving only an irritated patch. Sawamura Eitoku left his grandson to bandage him up and clean up the mess.

"Quite a night," Sawamura said, fussing with his arm.

"Yeah," Miyuki replied, not knowing how to feel about all of this. It was almost as if they were being _too_ nice to him. He didn't know how to process that. Like, they had to want something in return, right? It just didn't make sense. "I'd just like to have my hoodie back now."

Sawamura finished taping the bandage. "All set. Lets head to bed."

"Finally," Kuramochi said, head drooping against his palm while he sat at the table waiting for them. "This week has been a nightmare. I just want to sleep."

They shuffled into Sawamura's room, throwing two spare futons on the ground. "Alright, who wants the bed?" the boy asked, spreading out the blankets.

"It's your bed, you take it," Miyuki said, claiming one of the futons.

"But you guys are guests."

"We're fine on the floor," dismissed Kuramochi, shoving him aside to claim the other.

"But-"

"Listen to your senpai," Miyuki told him.

Kuramochi snickered, crawling into his. "You never told us what Sawamura's mom wanted you for."

Miyuki did't particularly want to think about it, having pushed it to the back of his mind. But now that things were quite in the room, venting actually seemed fairly good. He was still peeved at Sawamura for not even hinting at the issue. And with the way they'd talked about the spring festival... Kuramochi must have known too. Damn it, not even he filled him in. "Just wanted to know if I had any questions. You know, since Sawamura's an idiot and all."

"Hey!"

"Her words."

The boy squawked. "Betrayal, betrayal everywhere. My own mother. Not like I couldn't answer anything she could."

Miyuki let out a bitter laugh. "Right, like when were either of you going to tell me I can't have kids?"

He sat up to get a better look at their faces. They had better have a damn good reason for keeping quiet.

Sawamura went pale with a dropped mouth. "I- I was going to tell you. I just didn't want you to have to deal with everything all at once." He looked to Kuramochi for the lead. Kuramochi on the other hand, sighed impassively.

"Waiting for me to fully recover from one disaster before dropping another bomb on me?"

Sawamura's hands fidgeted. "I- you haven't really been taking news of everything well." He kept his voice more quiet than usual. Well at least he grasped the severity of the issue. "You didn't want anything to do with us, remember."

"This is kind of a big deal, Sawamura." He wasn't going to fall for puppy dog eyes now. This was his future, damn it. His legacy. His father would be heartbroken, not that'd he'd show it.

"Then I'm sorry, okay. Did- did you always want kids? " Wow, Sawamura looked uncomfortable. It was almost comical, except it really, really wasn't.

Miyuki shrugged, not giving the others a hint to his emotions although he found himself growing increasingly irritated. He wasn't sure what he expected them to say, but all this time they'd been acting as if everything would be fine, his life could still be normal. "I didn't really give it much thought, just always assumed it would happen one day."

Kuramochi's fist clenched. And why was he staying mute on the subject? Perhaps this was a fairy thing. Wolves didn't have this issue, after all.

"There are... um, options, and stuff," Sawamura fumbled on. "If it's that important to ya."

"So your mom told me," Miyuki answered sardonically. As if this was such an inconvenience for them to discuss. "She suggested single mothers. Guess I'll make a good meal ticket. That's all I'm good for."

Sawamura inhaled. "That's rude. You shouldn't make assumptions."

"Whatever. You know it's true. I'm next to royalty, remember?" He fluffed his pillow, intending that to be the end of it.

"Oh, don't give me any of that _'woe is me'_ crap," Kuramochi muttered in quiet anger. So he _was_ going to join the conversation. "We know you got dealt a shitty hand, that's why you haven't heard a single peep from us about bending backwards just to help you. You were born a halfling fairy, that's your reality, time to deal with it."

 _Well fuck you too_ , Miyuki thought, squinting. "I appreciate you helping me, I do. But how many times do you want me to say thank you? I didn't ask for this. Did you only save my life to hold it over my head? This is different. You have _no_ _idea_ what this feels li-"

"Right, no idea. Because no one in this room has had to-" He bit back his words and took a deep breath. "You know what, you _should_ thank your lucky stars you were born a fairy. Were you a wolf, you'd have been left to the elements in the woods."

 _And there are children starving in Africa_ , yeah, he knows the argument. This wasn't about that. This- it felt like something had been stolen from him.

"Wanna complain about not having kids?" Kuramochi went on in a cold voice; his eyes piercing him with an unflinching gaze. "Well guess what, I won't be having any, either. And _not_ because I can't, but because I wasn't born an alpha. My genes aren't considered good enough to procreate with, and a human child would die before the age of ten. But they'll marry me to let me raise the kids of the alpha they fucked, knowing he wasn't going to stick around but hey, good genes, right?"

Miyuki stilled. He couldn't be serious. "I-"

"Let me tell you something Miyuki, there's a huge difference between being a kid's biological father and being a kid's dad. You should be so grateful a woman would chose to let you anywhere near raising her child."

Surely he knew he never meant it like that. He came from a single parent home too. This wasn't- He didn't- "Kuramochi-"

"Oi, Sawamura, you wanna say your piece?" Kuramochi continued to talk over him.

"No," the boy answered quietly. "I- no."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. This isn't... It's not my place."

Kuramochi was watching Sawamura closely, waiting for something. When the boy remained quiet, he shrugged and looked away.

"What now," Miyuki asked, not sure how many more reveals he could take. Kuramochi obviously new something and wanted the boy to share, but it appeared he wasn't going to push it. As it was, he was still reeling from Kuramochi's slap in the face. What could he say to that, really? Without insulting the only friend he ever really had? He wasn't happy, but he understood that this was not the place to complain. He had that much decency, despite common belief.

"Nothing, never mind."

Miyuki shook his head. He didn't want anymore secrets. They'd had enough of those, and he trusted Mochi's judgment. If he knew and thought it was something he should know, it probably was. "You might as well spit it out. Mochi already knows."

"I doubt it. And you'll only make fun of me. I don't want things to get weird."

"Sawamura," Miyuki chuckled, wanting to lighten the atmosphere. "I promise, no matter what you tell me, I was always going to make fun of you."

"Hey!"

"In the past month you've gone from being one of my idiot pitchers, to being a fairy prince with magic powers, a sword, a fiancé, and two massive wings on your back, on top of being my idiot pitcher. Not sure how much more weird it's going to get."

"Miyuki Kazuya, you are the absolute worst!"

Miyuki smiled, seeing how quickly he'd gone back to his usual personality.

"Might as well tell," Kuramochi said. "It's relevant to the topic, isn't it?"

"It- You know? How do you know?" Sawamura questioned, perking up.

Kuramochi rolled his eyes. "Between you, your mom, and Wakana, you guys haven't exactly been subtle."

Sawamura hesitated, unsure what to do. Miyuki knew he was missing something. "And you don't, you don't mind?"

"Why would I mind. I got a date out of it, didn't I?"

"You stay away from Wakana!"

"Kyahahaha!"

Miyuki smirked. Okay, something was definitely up, but it couldn't be too bad. He'd ask about the Wakana thing later.

"You really mean it?" Sawamura looked so nervous all of a sudden. _Oh shit,_ the kid's eyes were starting to water. Was it really that bad? What could be so shocking that Sawamura doubted Kuramochi's friendship? Hadn't they gone through enough together to prove he wasn't going anywhere? Miyuki wasn't going anywhere?

"Gees, don't bring out the water works. Yes, I really mean it," Kuramochi exasperated. He moved forward to awkwardly pat him on the back. "If you really don't want to say anything, I won't bring it up again."

Now Miyuki was really confused. What the heck were they talking about? Was it a Haven thing he was unfamiliar with? Had to be, there was nothing-

"I'm gay," Sawamura said, breaking him from his thoughts. "That's why I can't marry Wakana and I'm such a failure to my people." Miyuki's breath stopped. "I need an heir, but I can't... Even just the thought... I can't."

Kuramochi clamped his hand on the boy's shoulder. "No one's judging you."

Kuramochi's eyes met Miyuki's. Miyuki nodded, as if that wasn't obvious. Of course. There was no way. Why even he... Well, it was confusing one way or the other. But he held no prejudice. These things happen, after all. No one would willing chose it. Sawamura's scared, trembling form, was proof of that. He'd expected rejection, condemnation. Miyuki felt sick, knowing this was something the kid had been dealing with, keeping secret...

And of course, now the little subtle nods Wakana and Sawamura-san had given began to stand out in his mind. They'd all known. They knew. This was something he'd been dealing with for a long time now, keeping it secret.

"Sawmaura," Miyuki said, not really knowing where he planned to go with this. "Give us a bit more credit, will ya?" He gave him a trade mark smile. "You think you're the first one to come through Seidou? Fumiya-san was that way too. No one gave him shit, because no one thought it impacted his play. So don't worry about it, right?" He looked to the shortstop, who gave him a nod. Miyuki inwardly cringed, realizing he was now taking social cues from Kuramochi, of all people.

But no matter how pathetic Miyuki thought his excuse had been, it seemed to light up Sawamura face like he'd declared him a saint on earth. "Re-really?"

"Yeah," Miyuki nodded. "You're the same old idiot. Quirks and all."

Sawamura had a mixture between and a frown and elated smile, unsure if he'd been insulted or not. "I-"

Miyuki reached over to rustle his hair. "Stop thinking so hard. You're bad at it, remember? Just keep playing your best. And that will be that." Sawamura squawked. And Miyuki thought he'd better clarify things just in case. The kid did have a habit of doing things without much thought first. "Just, uh, keep it to yourself, ya know? Like I don't think anyone on the team will give you shit, but if you want to go pro, it's best not to let that get out."

Sawamura blinked owlishly back at him. Shit, maybe he should have worded that more carefully?

"You think I can go pro?" the boy asked in an almost whisper. Miyuki stared and then broke out into a gut wrenching laugh. Of course, of course that was what Sawamura would take away from what he'd just said. The rest of it be damned, but hey, maybe go pro? He laughed that even Kuramochi was getting ready to smack him out of it.

"Yes," he wheezed. "If you keep up your hard work, keep on your ball control, and we manage to polish those new pitches, I think you could have a real chance at it."

The boys face lit up like new years. "You just wait, Miyuki Kazuya-"

"You've done it now," Kuramochi muttered.

"-I'm going to be _Ace_ this year _and_ take us to Koshien." The glint of determination in his eyes was enough to convince even the most stanch doubter. Part of Miyuki even believed him.

"Kyahahaha, those are some words, Sawamura. You'd better be up to them," Kuramochi said, settling back down to sleep.

"You bet I am!"

"Yes, yes, you'll be the top of the world. Can we sleep now?" Miyuki asked, trying to bring things back down so they could actually get some rest.

Sawamura harrumphed, but not without a smile on his face, leaning back and turning off the bedside lamp.

The morning came all too quickly when a loud knock on the door forced them awake. "Time to get up, boys," they heard Sawamura's grandfather call. "Breakfast will soon be served."

Miyuki groaned, shuffling to find his glasses. It was quarter to six. He groaned again and flopped back down. Now that just wasn't fair. It was the weekend. He could hear Kuramochi cursing, apparently he found this just as equally amusing as he did. Sawamura on the other hand, was already pushing himself out of bed.

"Come on guys, my mom makes great breakfasts. I bet she went all out because you're here," he said excitedly, throwing on warm socks and heading to the door.

"Sawamura, it's 5:45 a.m." Miyuki moaned. Sawamura blinked in response as if being woken up at that time made the most sense in the world.

"What he's asking," Kuramochi began, pulling over a hoodie against the brisk cold of morning. "Is why? Why are we being subjected to this cruel and unusual punishment on our only day off?"

Sawamura frowned. "Because this is a farm, silly. When you're on a farm, you work." And with that, the boy skipped out the door, calling, "Don't be late," as he went.

Kuramochi locked eyes with Miyuki. "This really is the week from hell."

"You don't have to tell me that," Miyuki answered, pulling on his sweatshirt over his tshirt. "That boy isn't huma- Well, I'm not sure he really exists at this point." The two groggily made there way to the door. "Bet he's enjoying this."

As soon as they reached the top landing, the smells of breakfast met their nose and their stomachs rumbled in approval. At least it wasn't all bad, he supposed.

Breakfast was a surprisingly normal affair. No one expected the two to make conversation as they drowsily ate their meal. Sawamura's father expressed his appreciation at having three fit, young men around to help with the chores. Apparently there was some heavy lifting he'd been putting off to finish prepping things for winter. The boys of course offered to help in any way, thanking the Sawamura's for their hospitality.

It would only be for the morning, they were told, then they'd have lunch and Miyuki could have another round done on his arm before catching the train back to Seidou. Miyuki tried not to cringe at the thought. When they got back to the dorm, he was going straight to bed, no questions asked. And if Sawamura even thinks of asking him to practice, he'd be hard pressed not to wring the boy's neck.

The work wasn't all that hard. A bit tiring, but nothing compared to what they were use to. Sawamura did most of the directing so his father could leave them unsupervised. He really was an old hand at this, Miyuki realized, having yet another piece of the Sawamura puzzle fall into place. This was probably the life he'd always envisioned for himself; taking over the farm, taking care of his parents, and starting a family... Except the boy had been wrestling with that last expectation for a long time now.

He looked over to see Sawamura wipe the sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. He had a bright smile in place while helping Kuramochi corner a rogue adolescent goat that had escaped the pen when Kuramoch went to feed them. A voice in the back of his head hinted, _'he's available now'_. Miyuki pushed it away. There was no way he was risking his career because a cute boy might, _might_ be interested.

Unlike Sawamura, Miyuki did have a choice. He'd always known that. Ever since middle school when everyone started talking about girls and dates, he'd never really saw what they did. Weren't they all the same? People were people; some were more attractive than others, some personalities called to him more than others. Wasn't there supposed to be something drawing him more one way than the other? There never had been with him, so he figured with a shrug, he must swing both ways. But that didn't mean he _had_ to.

He wasn't stupid, he knew what kind of country he lived in, and he followed sports news. He'd seen more than one rising star have their reputation destroyed by scandal. If it wasn't teams no longer signing them, it was the loss of sponsorships and advertisers. It wasn't worth the risk. Not when you had the choice. Who would chose that when the 'proper way' was so much easier?

 _'Maybe it was as simple as, she just fell in love.'_

Kuramochi's words from only the day previous echoed in his mind. _But why would you let yourself fall in love, to begin with?_

"Oi, Miyuki!" Kuramochi yelled, having just fallen on his ass, when the goat slipped passed him. "Stop staring off into space and help us."

Miyuki chuckled. Judging by the glint in the younger boy's eyes, he suspected he'd let the animal do that. The creature trotted over to him and bleated, just standing there. Miyuki had no idea what he was supposed to do now. It's not like he had a collar he could grab.

"Don't just stand there, grab him!" the shortstop growled, as though the goat had personally offended him.

"And get bit? No thanks," he called back.

"Oh, for the love of..."

"Just keep him distracted," Sawamura said, trying his best to sneak up behind the animal. Miyuki raised an eyebrow. Sawamura sneaking up on anything was laughable enough, but how did one entertain a goat? Miyuki made his hand into a fist and held it just out of reach, making it think that he had food in there. The goat followed the fist, trying to get his nose to it, to see just what was in there.

"That's right. You want a treat? You want a treat, don't chya," he cooed, shaking his fist a bit. It was enough to keep the goat from noticing Sawamura, just as he sprung and wrapped an arm around the creatures neck, holding it in place.

"Got you now," Sawamura said. He looked up at Miyuki with his bright, sparkling eyes, with a toothy smile, like he was showing off his prize catch to the other. Miyuki felt a tightening in his chest and his heart began to race. Miyuki tried to force himself not to blush.

Just what the heck was happening? It's like as soon as his mind processed that Sawamura _could_ be an option, his hormones starting blinking a large, flashing sign above his head saying, _'Yes. Him. Him now. He's the one. This is the one.'_ And that just wasn't fair. Sawamura had been placed firmly in the friend zone. It was the attractive, exceedingly likeable, if we were drunk I wouldn't say no, section of the friend zone, but being off limits had kept his imagination in check. Who told him he could just up and leave it?

Sawamura then surprised Miyuki by scooping the thing up in his arms and carrying it back over to the pen.

"I can't believe you just did that," Miyuki said as it was dropped in with the others.

"He's not full grown yet. They're just like big babies," Sawamura explained, dusting himself off.

"I highly doubt that." What would it be like to kiss him? To feel him next to him and wrap his arms around him? Miyuki took a deep breath and looked away. He could not believe he was having these kinds of thoughts now.

Kuramochi came over to them, scowling at the animal as he passed the pen. "Seriously, what a pain."

"Aww, but you thought they were cute a few minutes ago when all you were doing was feeding them," Sawamura teased. He probably thought the two of them were hilarious, a couple of city boys on a farm.

"That was before it tripped me into a pile of shit." Kuramochi turned to reveal an ugly stain on the side of his pants. Miyuki broke out laughing. To be honest, everything kind of smelt like shit in there, so he hadn't noticed, but now his anger made sense. Poor Mochi.

"I'll wash it," Sawamura defended. "You can borrow a pair from me... Or, if you want, dad said it was okay if you wanted to go run around the property." Kuramochi eyed him curiously. Seeing he had his interest, Sawamura went on. "The land is all warded, so you have nothing to worry about, and it goes back a fair ways. It ends in the woods, but there's no marker so be careful about that. It'll be something to do anyways, while we're working on Miyuki's arm."

Every meal they'd had at the Sawamura home had been amazing, and lunch was no different. Miyuki suspected the woman was ecstatic to have a full house to cook for and was positively glowing as she served them. They'd all taken turns to wash once they returned, Kuramochi going first, and they both borrowed Sawamura's clothes as his mom insisted in throwing theirs in a load since they smelled of the barn.

Much to his surprise, Kuramochi did take up the offer to run around out back, saying it was boring watching Miyuki get tattooed and that it was a fairy thing, anyways. But considering Kuramochi's options were usually skulking around Seidou at night, this was probably an rare opportunity for him to really stretch his legs, so to speak. He left, threatening to bite Sawamura if he dared even think about watching him change. Sawamura agreed, saying he needed to prep for Miyuki anyways.

As soon as Kuramochi left the house, Sawamura whipped out his phone.

"What are you doing," Miyuki asked, grabbing the blanket he'd used last night.

Sawamura grinned mischievously. "Texting Wakana."

"Does she have to be here for this?"

"I'm letting her know that a certain someone will be running around out back and that she might want to go play fetch."

Why that little... Sawamura was more of a sneak than he gave credit for. "So then there really is a thing going on there? That's something that's been confusing me. I thought things like that weren't allowed."

"Only humans run the risk of pregnancy," Sawamura's grandfather explained, having come down to start mixing the fairy ink. He must have heard what they were talking about. "Relationships across species in the Haven have never resulted in a successful fertilization. It's been tried and experimented on quite thoroughly in the past. Since it's considered safe, there's no stigma against it. However, there is an added pressure on woman to contribute to the success of their species. That's why you'll see a lot of single mothers or men taking on the responsibility of raising another's offspring." Sawamura Eitoku harrumphed, shaking his head. "It's also why, by all appearances, Eijun's engagement hasn't been officially broken off. That girl's parents would force her into another unwanted arrangement, glow or no, and she'd be stuck as a house wife. Even I know she's too smart for that kind of life. She's the only reason Eijun ever made it this far, after all."

"Hey!"

Miyuki chuckled, but it was a lot to take in. It certainly explained a lot about Kuramochi's behaviour last night.

"I don't know why, but she seems fond of Kuramochi-senpai, for some reason. Called him sweet." Sawamura made a face.

"Probably bonded over saving your dumb ass," Miyuki answered, taking off his hoodie and settling at the table. He'd taken the bandage off to shower, and never bothered to replace it. "Still, I'm surprised you're encouraging it."

The boy shrugged. "Mochi's a good guy." He sat beside his grandfather and helped him set out the traditional equipment. Miyuki turned his head. It was better if he didn't see what they used. "Besides," he continued on, his voice growing softer. "I've been getting the impression that it kind of sucks being a wolf."

 _Yeah_ , Miyuki thought, he'd noticed that too.

"He's small," his gramps said. "There's no greater shame than being small in a pack full of predators." Eitoku smiled. "And that's exactly why we hope he'll be your shield."

"Hah?"

"He's probably been in more scraps than you can count and it hasn't cowed him. Size means very little when you've got that kind of heart on your side."

Miyuki felt himself smile. Looked like he wasn't the only one being unwittingly adopted into the Sawamura family.

A few hours later Kuramochi came in, blushing furiously. "Not a word," he said, as they looked up with knowing smirks. "I'm going to change and get packed up."

The two boys broke out into snickers as he left the room.

The ride back was as uneventful as the ride there, only this time, Kuramochi was furiously texting almost the whole way and when Sawamura once again decided to use him as a pillow, he felt the heat spread up his neck. _Shit_ , Miyuki thought to himself, it was definitely a full blown crush.

No, not a crush; a crush didn't even cover it. Feelings were involved. He genuinely cared about the boy, and with everything that had happened over the past month, he couldn't even use the excuse of teammate camaraderie.

Ignore it; that's what his head was telling him. Burry it deep and never think on it again. Yet another part of him asked, _why_? What does it matter now, with everything that's happened? He can't have a proper family now anyways. And if he could hide being a freaking _fairy_ from the media, then surely he could hide this. Sawamura's family seemed supportive too. With all the non traditional families within the Haven, they were probably more tolerant towards that sort of thing than the average person.

So, why not?

 _He might not even like you,_ the voice in his head said. He looked down, just able to see a mop of brown hair and smiled to himself. Or maybe he'd just never seen him as an option. Miyuki shifted, leaning his weight back against the boy's. Guess he was just going to have to find away to let him know he was one.


	5. Chapter 5

Monday came and at first it was like everything had gone back to normal.

"Miyuki Kazuya, will you-"

"No."

"But-"

"Will you catch for me?" Furuya interrupted, edging Sawamura out of the way. The two pitchers hovered as he walked back to his seat with a breakfast tray in hand.

"Shut up, Furuya. I was asking first!"

Miyuki winced at the volume. It was too early for this. Even with going to sleep almost the moment they returned from Sawamura's farm, it was still wasn't nearly enough to make up for the past week. "No."

"No to Furuya, or no to me?"

"No to both of you," Miyuki settled, sitting down with a heavy weight. "Gees, so greedy. You know I've been kept off proper training for a month?"

"Exactly! I'll help you get back into practice!"

Much to Miyuki's relief, they didn't sit down with him. He didn't have the energy to fend them off and eat breakfast before his time was up. Fortunately, it looked like they'd both eaten already while he was milking the last of his chance to catch up on sleep. "I'll be working on getting my endurance and strength back before the winter training camp. Which is exactly what you should be worried about, especially you, Furuya. You wanna do better than in the summer, right?"

Furuya pointedly looked away.

"Don't ignore me."

With the threat of the dreaded winter training camp looming in their future, the two finally left him in peace. The catcher smirked hearing Sawamura grumbling a, "don't touch my tire," as he went.

"Sawamura," Miyuki called back.

"Huh?" The boy stopped to look over his shoulder.

"I'll come by after I'm done." Sawamura frowned. "To work on languages," Miyuki explained, with a knowing look.

"Oh? Oh! Yes, I'll be ready Miyuki Kazuya! Just you wait."

The boy's posture completely changed and he stood up straight, grinning with eyes alight with a secret only they knew. If only for a moment, Miyuki saw the proud prince, standing before him, wanting only to protect what was his. And then he was back to his idiot self, running after Furuya, accusing him of tire thieving.

"It's only studying and don't use my full name," Miyuki yelled after him. He looked back at his breakfast, feeling his stomach waver with the feeling of butterflies. He blushed, knowing exactly what it meant. As he dug in, Miyuki wondered if he really was as big a fool as his mother.

000

That evening when he knocked on Kuramochi and Sawamura's door, he came with a plan. He was tired of having everything taken from him. Even if things haven't turned out so bad, his desire to have just been born normal, to have grown up with a regular family, to have just played baseball and that been the end of it, niggled at the back of his mind. Everyone had shit to deal with in their life, and he felt guilty every time he indulged in thoughts of _why me?_ But that's exactly why he wasn't going to wallow. Nope, instead he was going to get even. When life liked to kick him, he always took perverse pleasure in forcing himself back up, and spitting in it's face. Before it had been with baseball, now it was going to be with this, here, with Sawamura.

He was going to make Sawamura his, wholly, and completely.

"Alright Sawamura-senpai, teach me your ways," he sing-songed as he swept into their room, startling both occupants.

Kuramochi closed the door after him with a sour look on his face. "Oh my god, did you have to?" He gestured to Sawamura. "Look at him. He preening!"

The boy had straitened up from his seat at their desk, with a fresh blush on his face. "Yes, I, Sawamura Eijun, humble servant of the summer court-"

"Humble, my ass."

"-Will help my fellow fey and have you up to speed in no time at all. It is a duty and an honour!"

"You see what you've done?" Kuramochi deadpanned with narrowed eyes while Miyuki shrugged, toeing off his shoes. "When you leave, I still have to deal with that."

"Hey!"

"It'll be good to have an enthusiastic teacher," Miyuki offered, flopping down on Sawamura's bed and making himself comfortable. Sawamura continued to blush and preen under their scrutiny.

"Call him sensei, and I throw this book at you."

Sawamura perked up, looking over expectantly. Miyuki laughed. "Sorry, you're going to have to do a lot more to earn that one," he told the kid, though part of him was curious to see just how red he could get.

"Well, let's get to it, then," the boy flustered, shuffling with a book, and offering his seat.

"Alright," Miyuki answered but didn't get up. Instead he scooted over to make room on his bed, smiling in what he hoped was an inviting way, but admittedly likely came off more as a wolfs grin. "Do your worst."

It was almost as if too wires had crossed in the kids mind. "Um..."

Kuramochi blinked hard at Miyuki.

"If I'm doing extra homework, I'm doing it comfortably." Miyuki gestured to the space he'd made. "It's not like I'm writing anything."

"O-okay..." the boy agreed and took a gingerly seat on the edge of the bed, laying his book on his lap. Miyuki could still see the red flush, running up the back of his neck.

"Come here. It'll be easier like this." He pulled at the arm of Sawamura's shirt, getting him to move so they'd be pressed up to one another.

"Uh, sure."

"Seriously?" Kuramochi asked, taking the now vacant desk seat. "You know what, I don't want to know." Turning his back to them, he put a pair of headphones over his ears and did his best to ignore them.

Sawamura shyly spread the book across both their laps, his breath catching as Miyuki leaned in to him. He let his arm snake around his lower back, to make room, of course. Though Sawamura's blush had never left, it did get worse, but he made no comment. Miyuki took it for the victory it was.

This might be easier than he thought. "Now teach me, oh wise one."

000

From then on Miyuki took every opportunity to casually flirt with- i.e. tease mercilessly - Sawamura, that he could. Be it a constant arm over his shoulder when ever he went to tell him something, messing with his hair, or hovering about over everything he did... So in actuality it turned out to be not all that much different from how they'd always acted before.

"The chips are really awesome today," Sawamura was saying to Haruichi, munching away with a look of pure bliss on his face. "Must be a new seasoning. I think there's a hint of cayenne pepper too.

"Is there now?" Miyuki asked coming up behind him. He reached over and snatched two of his precious fries from his plate, quickly taking a bite. "Mmm yeah, but that's paprika."

Sawamura squawked, smacking his hand away as he went for another. "Hey! You can get your own."

"Naw, taste better this way."

It was one of the rare occasions when the canteen staff actually indulged them with an unhealthy reward, but they only allowed them one serving. Since Sawamura was concentrating on he right hand, Miyuki simply reached with his left and grabbed a few more.

Sawamura stood up in a huff, making to grab at his shirt. "Miyuki Kazuya, stop eating my food!"

Miyuki laughed, enjoying the way the kid's eyes lit up. "I'm your senpai."

Haruichi muttered something about being bugged and stole a fry of his own, smiling at the scene.

000

Evening linguistics lessons were becoming something else all together. After the first night, Sawamura eased into the fact that Miyuki basically had them snuggle together while he taught him, as though it were only natural. Miyuki would come over, take off his shoes, make himself comfy on the bed, and let Sawamura crawl up against him, while Kuramochi pointedly ignored them both. Neither mentioned their new need for constant contact, and maybe the other thought it was a new level thanks to their fairy bond. Miyuki wanted to doubt that. He liked to believe that the small blush that was a near constant on the boy's face, was not out of embarrassment and instead, perhaps, something else.

It started with just an arm around his back, but moved quickly to them finding other ways to make themselves comfortable on the bed. From something as casual as bridging his legs over Sawamura's lap, as he recited common phrases or questions; or laying side by side on their stomachs, examining a book together; to Miyuki throwing a pillow in his lap so Sawamura could rest against him instead-

"You're tired."

"I'm not."

"Come here then. I'll read, you correct my accent."

Sawamura hesitated. He eyed the pillow and worried his lip before glancing to check that Kuramochi was still completely ignoring them.

Miyuki considered a few options. Telling him that if he doesn't want to he could leave so he could sleep, telling him he doesn't bite, asking if there was a problem... He didn't want to be confrontational though. He instead remained quiet, and let his shoulders slump with a sigh. He closed his eyes, leaning his head back. A moment later he felt the bed shift. He cracked his eyes to see Sawamura, red faced, and looking away, curling up and placing his head on his lap.

"Well... Start reading or something."

Miyuki smiled and began ready passages from the book. Sawamura occasionally stopped him to correct his pronunciation, but never looked up. He was pouting a bit too, but even that eventually faded. By the end, the boy didn't even flinch when Miyuki began to absentmindedly pet his hair; neither of them had really even noticed it happened.

After that it was much easier to get the boy cosy with him. His favourite was spreading his legs and pulling Sawamura's back to his front, reading over his shoulder. At first, he of course turned bright red, and even Miyuki felt his face heat up a bit. But it also made his insides flutter with satisfaction every time he had him this close. It just felt so right. Part of him even began to hope, began to whisper, this could be always. And more than once Miyuki found his eyes lingering on the boy's lips as he spoke a language he was only just beginning to understand.

Kuramochi had kept his mouth shut, but if his constant huffs, and sniffles of disbelief were anything to go by, his patience was likely waning. It was probably a good thing he was there. Miyuki didn't want to move too quickly and scare Sawamura off, something that would likely happen, were they left unsupervised. The truth was it surprised, and even a little frightened, Miyuki how quickly his own attraction towards the boy had unfurled from a simple crush to something more; something he couldn't name and he'd never felt before.

Much to his surprise, Miyuki really was finding it easy to pick up the words being taught. Basic sentences were quickly becoming part of his repertoire.

"Oh yeah, and we say names backwards, cause it's western, right? So I'm Eijun Sawamura, but we also tend towards first names amongst peers," Sawamura went on to explain, leaning back against the other. "It could even be considered rude to be overly formal."

"So, what you're saying," Miyuki began, turning his head so he was speaking lowly in Sawamura's ear, "is that I should start calling you _Eijun~_?"

Miyuki heard Kuramochi choke at the same time Sawamura stiffened against him. He wasn't able to supress an amused chuckle when Sawamura started fumbling with his words and his faced turned red. "Um, well, yes, I guess... but I'd have to call you Kazuya too."

His chuckle grew. "You already sort of do," he said, referring to his habit of using his full name. But he did have a point. No one actually did use his first name a Seidou, so he'd likely turn into a blushing mess the same way Sawamura was now. And he couldn't have that. "I guess if we're away from the team," he conceded, smiling gently. "Don't want to give anyone a heart attack."

Sawamura's eyes lit up in a way that made him look much younger than he was. This wasn't love struck, blushing Eijun, he was hoping for, but rather, you're going to be my new best friend that can never get rid of me even when you want to, Eijun, that often plagues the practice fields. "Also when we go back home... my home, I mean, and..."

"Or maybe I should call you _Ei-chan,_ " he whispered against the shell of his ear. It seemed more apt.

And there was the blushing idiot he'd been hoping for. "No! No thank you." His voice actually cracked. "Eijun is fine."

Miyuki laughed while Kuramochi grumbled something neither of them could hear. "What was that? I think Youichi's getting jealous."

Kuramochi turned from his homework and snared, "I'll throw this book at you!"

Which only made Miyuki laugh harder. "Ah, sorry Eijun, you were saying?"

000

That evening when Miyuki left to go back to his room, Kuramochi followed him out. He'd been expecting this, and was surprised it hadn't come sooner.

"What are you up to," Kuramochi asked, following him towards the vending machines, away from the dorms and prying ears.

"Hmm?"

"You've been _flirting_ with him" Kuramochi had his hands in his pockets and a questioning look on his face. At least he didn't look mad. Just, _concerned_.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Once at the machines, Miyuki fished in his pant pocket for spare change, pointedly ignoring the other.

"Oh my god, you're not even going to _try_ to deny it, are you?"

Miyuki shrugged. "Why should I?"

Kuramochi's eyebrows rose, having expected more of a fight. His surprise didn't last long before his suspicion was back. "So, what? You're gay now?"

Miyuki made his selection and grabbed his coffee from the base of the machine, keeping his face blank. "No. But I've never had a preference one way or the other."

To his credit, Kuramochi didn't even look phased to his confession. But then, his flirting hadn't exactly been subtle in front of him. "Why don't you just ask him out, if that's your end game? I'm sure he'll say yes."

Miyuki felt his heart swell in his chest. He was pretty sure of that too, but that didn't mean there still wasn't that little niggling doubt, and hearing Kuramochi confirm it filled him with excitement. But he still wasn't going to. Not yet. "And where's the fun in that? You saw him. This is hilarious. Doing it this way is much more entertaining."

"You've got a real messed up personality, you know that?"

"I like to think of it as roguishly charming."

Kuramochi made a face like he was going to be sick.

000

It was their last night before the week long training camp and Miyuki was determined to go to bed early. The hell they'd be enduring in the following days was nothing to laugh at and with his recovery, on top of _everything_ that's been going on, it was likely going to hit him harder than most. He'd expected everyone else to feel similar, well everyone on the first string at least, his roommate had once again disappeared, giving him complete privacy in his own rooms, so he was a bit surprised and more than a little peeved to hear Sawamura knocking at his door, calling for him to open.

He opened the door only a crack to glare out at the boy. "Eh? Sorry, but I'm taking this night off," he said, shutting it in his face.

"Wait, I was... just..."

Greedy pitcher's should know better. Honestly.

The knocking recommenced.

"Miyuki Kazuya, please let me in. I promise I'm not asking for practice!"

"Shut up, Bakamura!" one of his neighbours yelled.

"Don't tell me to shut up, you shut up!"

"You want me to come over there and make you?!"

Well great, at this rate this was never going to end. Miyuki opened his door and grabbed the boy. "Come on idiot, let's not keep everyone up." He pulled him through the entrance, resigned to his fate. "Alright, so what was so important?"

For a moment, Sawamura looked surprised to find himself in his room, then he straightened up to deliver what ever it was he came there to say. "I figured you should have a wing massage before the training camp. Because, they're still new and they've been under a lot of strain and will be under a lot next week and we'll be too tired for anything so..."

He trailed off, growing hesitant at Miyuki's unimpressed stare. "Wing massage?"

"It's just the base. They won't be out or anything." The boy fidgeted with his hands. "Just helping those muscles and um, I'll magic it a bit, so you can worry less."

"Worry less?" The boy really was doing a poor job of selling this. The fact that if this was serious, he knew Sawamura would be acting completely different, only raised his suspicions.

"About them popping. Because of the strain..."

Miyuki sighed. Sawamura was the expert, after all- for whatever he was actually after. "If you say so."

Sawamura got him to take off his shirt and lay down on the extra bed. He took off his glasses too, when he realized his face was going to be smushed into a pillow. At first he sat at the side and poked around his wing blades, asking if anywhere hurt. Once he confirmed that everything around the area was fine, he settled in to giving him a regular back massage he'd receive from anyone, with maybe just a little more focus around his blades, but really, Miyuki didn't see the need Sawamura had expressed. Not that he was about to complain. It was no exaggeration that his back had received a tremendous amount of abuse these past weeks and he knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially one in the form of his current obsession.

"Bless those pitchers hands," he mumbled when at last, Sawamura focused the majority of his attention to the muscles that seemed to house his magical metaphysical wings. The hands paused only for a moment but then continued on without comment. Though he couldn't see him, Miyuki knew the boy was smiling, probably with that dopey look on his face, too.

And then there was something about Sawamura's touch- he'd perceived a difference when all this began... "I've been meaning to ask, but have you been doing some sort of spell when you touch me?" Miyuki raised his head only enough to speak clearly, not wanting to interrupt the boy in his administrations. "I noticed you always tried to keep a hand on me when I was hurt. I could _feel_ it, _something_. It helped."

Sawamura hummed his affirmation, thankfully not pausing. Miyuki rested his head back down, content to drown in the calming sensation washing over him.

"It's not a spell," he answered, his voice sounding distant. "It's a royalty thing. Only I can do it in my family. It just, I don't know, calms you, I guess? I'm just glad I don't weird or gross you out."

Miyuki frowned despite himself. "Why would it gross me out?"

The hands paused. "Well because... I'm- you know..."

A strike of anger rippled over him. _'You know?'_ Yeah, he did. He was amazing, and self sacrificing, and inspiring, and loving, and what the hell else mattered?

Miyuki tilted his head to try to get a look at the boy. "A fairy prince? I've gotten pretty used to that by now." Sawamura's mouth opened, likely to correct him, but he wasn't about to let him. "Sawamura, I swing both ways too. Like I said, just keep it from the media, and we'll have no issues."

Sawamura sprung from his side, pointing accusingly with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, as if he'd just admitted to being a changeling imposter. "You- wha..."

Miyuki leaned on his side with a wry smile. "I'm bi, so if someone takes issue with you, they better be prepared to take issue with me too."

"You're lying," he challenged.

"I'm really not."

Sawamura blinked in disbelief and after several long moments, slowly his face melted from incredulity to understanding. He could practically see the gears working in his head, every little piece falling into place. The boy blushed, but came to sit back beside him none the less. Slowly a smile twitched on his lips. "Don't you just wish we could tell everyone?"

His voice was calm and quite, and so unlike Sawamura but also so much him, it hurt.

"That's not the way it works here," Miyuki answered, wanting to say more.

"It's not fair."

"Says the prince." Sawamura scrunched up his nose, telling him exactly what he thought of that. Miyuki chuckled, reaching out to give his leg a nudge. "Tell you what, you become the best pitcher in Japan, then drop the bomb on them. What can they do then, right?"

The kids face lit up with the flick of a switch. "Best in Japan? But what about you? If I'm the best pitcher, then for sure you'll be the best catcher- unless Chris-senpai's still playing."

Miyuki laughed. Eijun really was something else. It took so little to bring him back around to his usually endless energy self. "Of course. Fine, if you're the best and I'm the best, then we'll both come out at the same time. Just to completely mess with them."

If it was possible, the kid's smile was even brighter than his eyes and he once again felt that tightness in his chest. "It's a deal, Miyuki Kazuya."

"Still the full name."

"Kazuya. We'll make it together."

000

The winter camp was hell. He'd expected it to be hell; but it was still hell. After the third day, and Miyuki was cursing his still not 100% recovery, Sawamura dragged him back to his room, dumbing a box full of amulets at his feet.

He had amulets for everything. Amulets for fatigue -

 _"That's cheating."_

Amulets for recovery -

 _"Were you cheating last summer?"_

Amulets for focus -

 _"I swear if you were cheating in the summer-"_

 _"I wasn't cheating!"_

Even amulets for sweat control -

 _"Seriously?"_

 _"What, did you think people just always had deodorant? Fairy's are known for always smelling like a summer breeze or spring morning, did you think that was natural?"_

Miyuki pinched his brow. "I'm not wearing any amulets and neither are you."

And that was the end of that.

 _"I bet Kuramochi was cheating."_

 _"What was that!?"_

 _"Nothing senpai!"_

 _000_

The 24th was a half day and allowed student to leave early for winter break. By dinner, most of Seidou dorm had cleared out, with only a few left, finishing up the last of their packing. The knock on his door and hearing Sawamura calling for him, surprised him. He'd thought the boy had already left. His trip, after all, was a bit long, he wouldn't make it home till well after dark at this rate.

When he opened the door, he was faced with a red faced Sawamura holding out a poorly wrapped package for him to take. "Miyuki Kazuya, merry Christmas."

Miyuki rose a single eyebrow, then moved to the side, nodding for the boy to get in.

"Sawamura," he said, closing the door behind him. "What is this?"

"It's a Christmas present," he said, thrusting the package out once more.

"It's Christmas eve," Miyuki replied flatly, the implication not at all lost on him. _Did_ Sawamura know what he was implying?

"So? I won't get to see you tomorrow."

"But, you'll see me for new years," Miyuki rationalized, still not taking the package. "You could always give it to me when I get there."

"But I want you to have it now." He was looking at him with bright excited puppy dog eyes. He then added, more softly, "I don't want the others to see it."

 _And why is that,_ Miyuki shrewdly thought. But he could recognize a silently plea when presented with one. "Alright. I'll save it for tomorrow-"

"No, you have to open it now. I'll need to explain it to you."

Miyuki sighed. Guess he was staying a little longer, after all. "Fine."

He unwrapped the oddly shaped package to find a pile of bubblewrap beneath. After prying that off too, he was left with what looked like an oversized marble, just smaller than a baseball. But it couldn't be solid, he didn't think; it was far too light for solid glass. Inside was a seas of colours, swirly hypnotically.

"Do you like it?"

Miyuki looked up to see the boy watching him expectantly. "It's uh, very pretty, but I'm guessing it's not a paperweight."

He grinned. "It's a _memory orb._ "

"Right, so something magic."

"It shows you your memories."

Miyuki blinked, looking at the swirling colours. "What, like a TV?"

"No, you see them in your head."

"I already see my memories in my head," he teased.

"Not like that!" The boy huffed. _Well if you explained it properly, I wouldn't have to act obtuse._ "Like, it clarifies them, brings back the little things you forgot, lets you relive them if you want."

He wasn't sure he liked where this was going. "Sawamura, something like that..."

"They can be dangerous too," he continued on with ever growing excitement. "You need to definitely know what it is you want to see, and not let your thoughts wander. Trying to remember dreams can be bad, our mind forgets them for a reason. And if you accidentally fall into a nightmare, you could really hurt yourself." _Lovely._ "And don't try to remember bad things. These were once tried on victims to get more details about crimes, and they ended up retraumatizing the people."

"Then why are you giving this to me?" Sounded more dangerous than anything. And why the heck did Sawamura have something like this to begin with?

"It's not for bad memories. It's for good ones. Like- like playing baseball!" Miyuki had more than a small suspicious that the orb was meant for something far, far more personal, but he was never going to say it. "If you wanna remember what happened during a certain play, and you're unsure what was going on, you could reexamine it and stuff."

"And that's why you're giving this to me? For baseball?" Miyuki eyed him, watching him fidget uncomfortably. He hadn't really thought this gift giving through, huh?

"You can use it for other things too, if you like. It doesn't matter how old the memory is. You'll experience it like it's brand new."

And there it was, the confirmation he was looking for. He looked at the orb and thought of his past; it _was_ tempting. "How does it work?"

Sawamura's face instantly lit up, recognizing Miyuki's acceptance of the gift. "Here, you hold it in your hand and think of a memory. Lets try something simple first, like when we had breakfast this morning. Better sit down first. Close your eyes and think of this mornings practice." The boy practically pushed Miyuki onto his bed and forced his hands to wrap around the ball. "When you want it to stop, just open your eyes. Don't let yourself get too swept up in the memories, otherwise you might forget to open them. A good idea is to set an alarm in the room, just in case, to startle you out of it."

Miyuki was a little surprised at Sawamura's man handling but that went to show how excited the boy was. _Okay, whatever, we'll just go along with this,_ Miyuki though, following his instructions. He sat at the edge of the bed and wrapped his hands around the stone. With closed eyes, he deliberately concentrated on his memories of morning breakfast. Nothing out of the ordinary had taken place, and one breakfast could be replaced with a hundred breakfasts, but as his thoughts honed in on a specific anchor, he felt himself drift into a dream.

That was exactly like it felt like, he had fallen asleep and now was in a dream. there was a moment of disorientation where everything just carried on around him, and he was almost sleeping, but then he remembered why he was there. He wasn't asleep. He was there, this was a memory, he was seeing it, and he could remember- no - _see_ , everything despite how his mind had dumped the useless information from his thoughts... "Wow."

"Yeah. You have to be careful who you give these to."

Sawamura's voice suddenly pulled him from his vision. He was aware, and forced his eyes to open, looking back at the boy with wonder.

"Never give it to someone who's suffering from depression, they'll rather live in their past- happier times- than reality. People have died from dehydration, forgetting they need to wake."

Honestly, Miyuki could absolutely see how one of these could become incredibly addictive. "These sound kind of dangerous for a gift..."

"Well... I'm giving it to _you_." Sawamura sat down beside him, close enough to let their shoulders and thighs touch. "I know _you'll_ be fine, as long as you set an alarm. Even if you didn't, I'm sure you wouldn't lose yourself. You'd have to really hate reality to do that, and you have goals you need to do. How can I take us to Koshien if you're always dreaming, right?"

Miyuki was still looking down at at the ball. He'd figured when Sawamura finally decided to make his move, it would be something loud and embarrassing, and vary pubic because the boy could possess an inch of subtlety to save his life, and yet with this...

Of course, Miyuki wasn't going to make it that easy for him. "Pretty sure of your self for someone who's still working on his ball control."

"Hey!"

Miyuki looked at him, and really looked, willing his emotions to lay bare. Could he see? He wasn't sure, but he would try. This, this was something, _not normal._ He felt it. As he gazed at the strange, small orb, he felt it deep in his soul- this was love. This was a gift that could only be explained by love. But maybe he was getting ahead of himself. He was hoping too much. Projecting too much.

"Where did you get this? Is there like a secret, magic amazon site I don't know about?"

 _If I were to kiss you..._

"Perks of being royalty."

 _So not cheap._ "Sawamura..."

 _I need to kiss this boy, I want to kiss this boy._ Miyuki dragged his eyes away.

"What? It was no problem, really. Magical items are all bartering and knowing the right person. It just so happened, I knew the right person and could get them what they wanted." Sawamura brushed it off easily enough.

Miyuki knew he really didn't have enough information to argue one way or the other. He just had to take Eijun at his word that it was no hardship. He really hoped it wasn't and his suspicions were wrong. "As long as this wasn't expensive. I didn't get you anything."

"That's fine, just-"

"Catch for you. Got it," he finished with a sigh.

* * *

The train ride to Nagano felt far longer than before without being able to fulfill his second job as a human pillow. He occasionally sent a text off to Kuramochi, who was still at home for another day, or Eijun, who could barely contain his excitement via text and filled his messages to emoji's and spelling errors, enough to make the lit major inside the boy surely weep.

But Miyuki couldn't keep up with with the messages, not when what he wanted to say could only be done in person; that he'd never find words to express himself. The memory orb was far more dangerous than Sawamura had given credit. Miyuki's childhood had suddenly become an open book and the memories he relived... At first he didn't know whether to thank the boy or curse him. That first night he'd spent back with his father, after a quiet meal and then going their separate ways in the evening, it wasn't- it was- it...

 _Too much._

Miyuki had cried himself to sleep that night. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried so much. Probably when his mother died. And that had been the last time, too.

At last the train arrived and Sawamura enthusiastically greeted him at the station with his grandfather, taking his bag and yammering on about all the cool things they were going to do before having to return to school. Miyuki did his best to appear normal but the truth was, he couldn't take his eyes off the boy. Everything about him seemed to glow and Miyuki just felt so much warmer sitting next to him.

When they arrived back at the farm, Sawamura-san once again hugged him, welcoming him back to his second home, and making sure to once again emphasize that, that _was_ what this was for him. Somewhere he was welcome, no matter what. At last he was being dragged away by an embarrassed Eijun and led up the stairs. The boys would be left to wash and get settled as there was plenty of time before dinner. And he had his own room now too, apparently. Sawamura's mom had spent the time transforming a spare room into one 'fit for a teenage boy', taking down the doilies and pictures of flowerpots.

Sawamura grumbled as he ushered him through; something about 'your bed's way nicer then mine', and Miyuki found himself smiling despite himself.

"I knew they'd end up liking you more. You've got that sneaky personality that tricks people into thinking your actually a decent person," the boy snarked, dropping Miyuki's bag by the base of the bed. Sawamura sat, making a show of bouncing on the mattress. "See? Completely unfair."

"Thanks Eijun, knew I could count on you to tell it like it is." Sawamura's face contorted comically. Miyuki reached out and ruffled his hair. "Besides, I think we both know who the real favourite is."

Sawamura blinked. "Wakana?"

Miyuki laughed. "Obviously."

"Obviously."

They both smirked.

"Sawamura, about that memory orb..." Miyuki hesitated. He really wasn't sure how to say what he felt about it, if he should say anything at all. Maybe it was best to just leave it as it was; neither of them acknowledging the true weight of the gesture.

He looked up enthusiastically. Had the boy a tail, Miyuki was sure it would be wagging. "Oh, did you give it a try?"

"Yeah, I did." It hurt to look at him, so he turned away.

"And? Did you like it?" When he didn't say anything, the boy got up, moving towards him. "Miyuki?"

Miyuki faced him, still not sure what he wanted to say, why he brought it up to begin with? He shouldn't have brought it up. There was no reason to; Eijun had no idea the door he would be opening, he just wanted to help. Sawamura's eyes shone with worry and there was a slight pout to his lip. He was adorable, and just so- _good_. He was too good for someone like him. "Eijun..."

His eyes widened. "I'm sorry. Was it too much?" he started to panic. "I didn't mean-"

" _Thank you._ I mean that." What else could he say, really?

"You're welcome."

And he was just so damn earnest too.

Miyuki's gaze trailed from his sparkling eyes, to his slightly smiling lips, and back again, unconsciously wetting his own.

"But I didn't get you anything," he murmured taking a step closer.

"Don't worr-"

Miyuki bent only slightly, just enough, tilting his head at just the right angle, and pressed his lips lightly against the boy's, stunning them both still with his action. Miyuki's half lidded eyes could only see enough to know that his had widened a fraction and then closed almost peacefully. He'd never notice the vary slight freckles on his skin.

It was meant to be something short. Just an experiment to gauge the others reaction, but that second of stillness was all Sawamura apparently needed for his own confirmation. One of Sawamura's hands found its way to rest on his waist while the other brushed through the back of his hair, keeping him there as he kissed him far more firmly back.

It was happening. It was really, finally, happening. This wasn't a dream or a fantasy. Sawamura was right here with him, and they were sharing a kiss. And Sawamura didn't pull away when it ended, but kissed him again. And again. And again. And Miyuki kissed him back. He draped his arms over his neck, and smiled into their kisses. His heart pounded in his chest. Their eyes would occasionally open, and meet, and smile as only eyes could smile at each other. Miyuki was suddenly so happy, he never wanted the moment to end.

He wasn't sure who's mouth opened first, who's tongue made the first daring move, but all too soon, their innocent kisses dissipated to something more. Hands no longer rested but clung, ran, and pressed them closer together. Soft whimpers escaped their lips as they shifted, trying ever to close every single gap between them.

Kazuya didn't want Eijun's lips to leave his, he didn't for a second want them to ever part; he was on fire and every inch of him wanted to consume the boy who had come to dominate his life. Sawamura trailed his lips across his jawbone and down to his neck, sucking at the delicate skin there. Kazuya's breathing became heavy, never realizing that his neck was so sensitive. He was sure Eijun was working on giving him a hicky, or several, with the way he worked at the skin there, but Kazuya didn't care, practically groaning when the pitcher bit down.

Once satisfied with his work, Sawamura tilted his head back. "Kazuya?"

"Yeah?" he answered vaguely, too busy focusing on the boy's bruised, wet lips, that and the fact that he should be kissing them right now.

One hand cupped his face, running a thumb along his jaw. "Is this okay?"

Kazuya's eyes drifted back up to meet his. They shone bright with want and desire, but also a hint of worry. Why should he worry? "Perfectly."

And he would prove it to him. Miyuki held on to the boy's hips and began shuffling them back towards the bed. Sawamura caught on quickly, scooting on to the mattress and leaning back, pulling Miyuki with him. Kazuya was over him in an instant, glasses tossed aside, their legs tangling, and Sawamura's arms wrapping around his neck. And then they were back to making out, Kazuya determined to kiss away and last lingering doubt between them.

A soft whimper escaped the boy when Miyuki unconsciously rocked his hips against him. _Oh, I like that_ , Miyuki thought, and experimentally rocked his hips again, making sure to watch Sawamura's face. This time he gasped, opening his eyes just enough to see Kazuya smirk down at him before attacking his neck. He wasn't going to be the only one leaving this room with a mark.

He didn't have a chance to admire it though, for as soon as he pulled away, Sawamura flipped them, pinning Kazuya beneath him. Eijun kissed him with renewed vigour and leaving him completely breathless before leaning back. He ran his hands down Miyuki's torso and was just enjoying the view, from the look of the self-satisfied smirk the boy was sporting. They were both breathing hard, both felt the strain against their pants, both looked like they'd been doing exactly what they'd been doing.

Sawamura pulled off his sweater, revealing a flimsy, old, tee, probably from his junior days, given the way it clung nicely to his more muscular physique. Kazuya felt his mouth water, just thinking of stripping the thing from the boy, eyeing where the shirt had rode up at the side. When Eijun bent down, he surprised him by pushing up his own shirt. Kazuya hissed in a breath as Eijun kissed his flat stomach, making his way up from his bellybutton to the centre of his chest. His breath hitched, feeling the boys thumb skim over his nipple. _Shit_ , he was getting ridiculously turned on.

Unable to go further without Kazuya's help of stripping, Eijun trailed his way back down. But as fogged and aroused as Miyuki's mind was, part of him was still aware as to where they were, and what they were doing. He knew that if they started removing clothing now, they'd never make it back down for dinner; he didn't particularly like the idea of having to explain why when someone came looking.

Kazuya enjoyed the feeling of the boy running his hands down his bare chest, and the way his soft mouth made it's way back towards his pant line. _God damn_ , was he sexy. If he didn't stop him now, he'd be in very big trouble.

After a groan, Kazuya shift onto his arms. "Someone's not shy."

Eijun gave one last kiss to his hip bone, making a point to suck and scrape his teeth against him before sitting up. "You thought I would be?" he answered with heavy breath and a smile far too innocent for what he'd just been doing.

Miyuki shrugged, willing his heart to stop racing. "Well, I've never done this before."

"Really?" The pure wonder Eijun held at that admission, surprised him.

 _Did that mean..._ "You have?" He really did not like the thought of someone else seeing his Eijun like this, so- just so, completely wrecked and wanting. Miyuki felt a wave of jealous possessiveness bubble in his gut. He was his, he would stay his...

"No! But you- you're you?" Eijun exclaimed and gestured randomly to the boy he was currently straddling. "You're popular! And hot."

Sawamura's face was burning bright red, as though admitting Kazuya was hot was far more embarrassing than what they'd just been doing. He chuckled, running his hand up and down Eijun's thighs. He _was_ his, he was going to _stay_ his.

"I was a runt till my last year of middle school. Beyond that, my life's been nothing but baseball," Miyuki explained. "I also have it on good authority, that my personality could use a little work."

Eijun snorted. "No kidding."

"What about you, my Prince Charming?" Kazuya tilted his head to its side, genuinely curious. "Are you trying to tell me you've never been asked out?"

Eijun levelled him a stare and deadpanned, "Have you forgotten the part where I'm gay-" He rolled his hips in emphasis- "And engaged."

"Oh." He kind of had.

"Oh."

Though Sawamura's movement reminded him of other, more pressing matters, so to speak... "Why are we even still talking?" They could be spending their time much more productively.

"Because you don't shut up?"

"Why don't you shut me up, then?"

And so he did. Lips, teeth, hands and tongues. For a moment it was all he knew. For a moment it was all he ever wanted to know. His eyes opened to see his perfect boy gazing down at him. His eyes weren't just sparkling, they were glowing.

"Your eyes," he murmured, brushing the hair from his brow. "They-"

"I know," he answered in a soft voice. He kissed him once again, far more gently and slow than before. Their eyes met again, his expression indecipherable. "Yours too." Eijun smiled before nuzzling his head into his chest, breathing in his scent, and pulling him into a tight hug. Kazuya hugged him back, wondering at that strange look.

They stayed like that for only a few moments when a loud knock on the door startled them from their embrace. They jolted apart, but thankfully Eijun's mom didn't open the door as she called them down for dinner. The two waited in silence, catching their breath and listening to the sound of feet padding back down the stairs.

"Um," the boy stuttered, looking very pointedly at his crotch. "I need to use the washroom." And he sprung quickly from the room, tying his sweatshirt around his waist.

Kazuya very nearly called after him, asking if he wanted any help, but chose to have mercy. He had a similar problem of his own to deal with. He did take a moment to glance in a side mirror first though, catching the last of the maroon red, fading from his eyes.

"Huh."

000

Dinner was a bit of an ordeal.

"I see you were right about getting them separate rooms."

"It's a good thing it's scarf season," his father laughed.

"Oh my god, stop."

His mother chuckled. "Oh, we're just having fun, dear. But do keep in mind that some of these walls are thin."

Sawamura made a high pitched keening noise.

Kazuya slouched in his seat, slowly wanting to die.


End file.
